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Red Cross Facing Severe Blood Shortage, Reassures Safety For Donors

Image courtesy of the American Red Cross.

The American Red Cross says it's facing a severe blood shortage due to coronavirus concerns.

The Red Cross says nearly 2,700 blood drives have been canceled across the country, with that number expected to increase.

According to a news release, more than 80 percent of the blood the Red Cross collects comes from drives like these.

The organization is asking that healthy people donate now to help alleviate the shortage.

Gail McGovern is the president and CEO of the American Red Cross. She wants to reassure donors that blood donation is a safe process, and that extra precautions have been put in place.

Both donors and staff are screened and sanitized, and beds are being spaced to follow social distancing practices. Safety protocols also include enhanced disinfection of surfaces and equipment, and routine wiping down of common areas.

The organization says there is no data or evidence that COVID-19, or any respiratory virus, can be transmitted by blood transfusion.

For the most up-to-date information on coronavirus in North Carolina, visit our Live Updates blog here.

Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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