Vox Sanguinis International Forum on transfusion services' response to COVID‐19: Summary

• DOI: 10.1111/vox.12943
• Publication Date: 2020-05-08T19:58:33Z
• Authors: Mark H. Yazer; Bryon Jackson; Monica Pagano; Naomi Rahimi‐Levene; Victoria Peer; José Luis Bueno; Ryan P. Jackson; Hua Shan; Luiz Amorim‐Filho; Maria‐Esther Lopes; Carla Boquimpani; Ulrik Sprogøe; Mie Topholm Bruun; Kjell Titlestad; Kylie Rushford; Erica M. Wood; Zoe K. McQuilten; Vincenzo de Angelis; Michela Delle Donne; Mike Murphy; Julie Staves; Duck Cho; Fumihiko Nakamura; Akira Hangaishi; Jeannie Callum; Yulia Lin; Mostafa Mogaddam; Ahmad Gharehbaghian; Miquel Lozano
• Keywords: Health Knowledge, Attitudes, Practice; Clinical Laboratory Techniques; Blood Safety; Health Personnel; Pneumonia, Viral; COVID-19; Blood Donors; Hematology; General Medicine; 3. Good health; 03 medical and health sciences; COVID-19 Testing; 0302 clinical medicine; Surveys and Questionnaires; Disease Transmission, Infectious; Blood Banks; Humans; Blood Transfusion; Coronavirus Infections; Pandemics

The novel coronavirus (SARS-Cov-2) that was first reported in Wuhan, China and provokes the COVID-19 disease has developed into a pandemic with hundreds of thousands of people infected. Many governments have enforced social isolation protocols on their citizens, which has led to the closure of many large public gatherings in order to limit the spread of the virus. These closures could reasonably be expected to affect blood collections, thereby presaging shortages of blood for transfusion. On the other hand, steps such as the postponement of elective surgeries and other non-urgent transfusions could mitigate against potential shortfalls in the blood supply.