Monday June 15, 2020 ~ VICTORIA, BC
~ Mary Brooke, B.Sc., editor | West Shore Voice News
In compliance with the Public Health Agency of Canada to enable physical distancing, at this time, Canadian Blood Services can only welcome donors who make appointments.
- Appointments help minimize the number of people at donor centres.
- Appointments allow people to complete the pre-screening questionnaire before they arrive at a donor centre and self-defer if necessary in keeping with health and safety recommendations.
- All eligible donors to book their appointment at blood.ca on the GiveBlood app, or by calling 1 888 2 DONATE.
State of Emergency still allows blood donation:
Please note, gathering bans do not apply to blood donor centres during a State of Emergency. Several provinces have called for a ‘State of Emergency’ to limit the number of people attending social and recreational gatherings. In BC, the current State of Emergency runs to end-of-day on Tuesday June 23.
“Blood donor centres are neither a social nor recreational gathering,” says Canadian Blood Services. Given their unique role within Canadian healthcare, the organization says it is committed to welcoming donors during a declared State of Emergency.
Who can attend at the donor centre:
During the pandemic, only essential individuals are permitted in the donor centres. This includes donors (with appointments), donor centre staff, volunteers, and essential contractors and delivery persons. Children and significant others (without appointments) are not permitted.
===== LINKS:
COVID-19 information page within the Canadian Blood Services website
Blood donor clinics not on pause during COVID-19 (West Shore Voice News, March 30, 2020)
A visit to the Canadian Blood Services donor clinic in Colwood, BC (West Shore Voice News, December 2018)