The number of people donating blood has dropped sharply because of COVID-19. But the chairwoman of the Kalamazoo County Commission says she hopes healthy adults will step up to fill the gap.
Julie Rogers says many people still need blood for reasons beyond the pandemic.
"Although elective surgeries have been canceled, we still have a need for blood for heart surgery patients, organ transplants, cancer patients, sickle-cell disease, burn victims, and car accident victims."
Rogers says blood shortages have been reported in the Detroit area. Rogers hopes that healthy adults in the Kalamazoo area will give blood during the crisis.
"It is very safe to donate. They are limiting people and still spacing them out so that they're not sitting next to each other. So, I think it is a safe process for those that are healthy in our community."
A blood drive will be held at Ascension Borgess Hospital in Kalamazoo on April 7. Information about other blood drive events is available from the Michigan Red Cross and Versiti Blood Center of Michigan.