The Taiwan Blood Services Foundation (TBSF) on Wednesday called on the public to donate blood as reserves around the country dropped to 3.4 days of supply on average, well below the official seven-day safe level.

The TBSF said that as of Wednesday morning, type O blood was in the shortest supply, with only 2.4 days of reserves left on average.

It was followed by type A blood at 3.4 days, type B at 5 days and type AB at 5.1 days, TBSF data showed.

Regionally, the shortages were most critical in Hsinchu, where there is currently only 2.4 days of supply, compared to 3.3 days in Taipei and Taichung and 4.2 days in Kaohsiung, according to the foundation.

Liu Chun-hung (???), an official at the TBSF’s Taipei Blood Center, said his office received donations of only 12,000 bags of blood last week, down from an average of around 16,000.

In addition to the recent rainy weather, which typically affects people’s willingness to donate blood, Liu said many people were also ineligible to donate because they had caught colds or returned to the country from abroad in the last 14 days.

Due to recent temperature fluctuations, there has also been an increase in demand for blood from people suffering from cardiovascular disease complications, according to Liu.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel