The Taipei Blood Center is running short of blood types O and A, due to the recent high temperatures and frequent afternoon thunderstorms, as well as many people traveling abroad for a summer vacation and a rise in respiratory infection cases.
Taipei Blood Center planning division director-general Liu Chun-hung (劉俊宏) said yesterday that blood reserves are running low across the nation.
Taiwan Blood Services Foundation data showed that as of 7:45am on Friday, type AB was the only blood type at the normal level of supply in Taipei, while type B was low, and types O and A were critically low.
Photo: Screen grab from the Taiwan Blood Services Foundation Web site
A supply of more than seven days is considered normal, four to seven days is considered low, while less than four days is considered critically low.
The supply of all four types of blood in Taichung were low, and types A, B and O were also low in Kaohsiung, while only blood type AB was low, while blood types B, A and O were normal in Hsinchu, the data showed.
Liu said the shortage of blood types O and A has been serious recently, while the blood reserves of other types are not high either.
The Taipei Blood Center on average receives donations of about 15,000 bags of blood per week, but that number dropped to 12,000 in the past week.
Liu said he has heard that some hospitals have postponed surgeries or tightened their blood transfusion rules.
Regarding the reasons for the recent blood shortage, Liu said the hot weather and frequent thunderstorms have led to many people preferring to stay indoors, while many other people are traveling abroad for their summer vacation.
Moreover, there are “many viruses spreading at the same time,” such as adenovirus and COVID-19, so when the center called some frequent blood donors to ask them to donate, about 30 percent said they had cold-like symptoms and could not donate blood, he said.
Liu said that taking certain medicines also affects blood quality, so donors might need to wait one to two weeks after they finish their medication before donating blood again, and as COVID-19 cases are expected to peak in the middle of this month, the situation is likely to continue until after the peak period.
He urged people who are healthy and not experiencing any illnesses to donate blood to help people in need, and those who are feeling ill should rest and come out to donate after they have fully recovered.
Regarding the effect of the blood shortage on surgeries, Taiwan Community Hospital Association chairperson Chu Yi-hong (朱益宏) said he has not heard about it from association members, and that hospitals should be performing surgeries as normal.
Chang Gung Memorial Hospital said it had not implemented tighter blood transfusion rules, and Taipei Veterans General Hospital superintendent Chen Wei-ming (陳威明) said the blood supply is normal and surgeries are proceeding as scheduled.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
GLOBALGIVING: ‘ Caving to external pressure is not acceptable for an organization that has cultivated justice reform and human rights for 30 years,’ one NGO said A slew of non-government organizations (NGOs) have withdrawn from the GlobalGiving fundraising platform after it announced it would use “Chinese Taipei” instead of “Taiwan” from next month. The Taiwan Good Rice Association wrote on Facebook on Friday that it was informed on April 28 via a teleconference call of the change, which was made because the platform wanted to operate in China. Taiwan Good Rice is to terminate all cooperative relationships with GlobalGiving in response to the platform’s “unilateral and non-negotiable” decision to remove references to Taiwan, the NGO said. “Taiwan is in the official name of Taiwan Good Rice Association and the
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
RSS