Blood service invite recovered Covid-19 patients
People can still donate blood in Bethal and Secunda
SECUNDA – The South African National Blood Service (SANBS)’s branches in Secunda and Bethal are still open during the lockdown period and people can still donate blood or plasma.
Ms Dot Prinsloo, donor relations practitioner at the SANBS in Secunda, said donors can contact them before they visit the blood service to donate blood then the blood service will send them a SMS.
The blood service is now looking for healthy donors who previously had Covid-19 to donate their plasma to be used in a trial to treat sick patients in hospitals suffering from Covid-19.
According to the SANBS, studies have shown that patients who receive this antibody-rich plasma get better faster and have less chance of dying. In order to donate your plasma, you must have fully recovered from Covid-19, be between the ages of 18-65 years and be generally healthy.
To see if you are eligible to participate in the SANBS’s trial, visit their website at https://sanbs.org.za/convalescent-plasma-donor/.
The blood service is also looking for places where they can have mobile blood drives.
Ms Prinsloo urged the community, business owners and managers of local shopping centres to contact her if they are able to host a mobile blood drive.
Contact the blood service at 017 631 3731 or 0800 119 031.
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