By Thulasizwe Nkomo
The South African National Blood Services (SANBS) said while their blood stocks were currently stable, they still encouraged people to donate.
The SANBS said their stocks picked up after they had reported a shortage ahead of the festive season last year.
Chief Operations Officer at SANBS, Ravi Reddy, said their blood stocks was at 4.2 days, which was acceptable, but they aimed for a 5-day capacity.
He said the demand for blood during the festive season was relatively low because most hospital beds were allocated to Covid-19 patients.
Reddy said the alcohol ban announced by President Cyril Ramaphosa on December 28 led to fewer trauma cases in hospitals and low demand for blood.
He added KZN had less blood stock because there were fewer blood donors.
“We usually transport blood from other provinces to KZN,” said Reddy.
SANBS communications officer Khensani Mahlangu said: “I think the public has been good at hearing our pleas (for donations) and responding. So, at the moment, we are still calling for blood group O donors, especially, to come through and donate blood.”
The Mercury