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Introduction: With the outbreak of COVID-19 and its containment measures, blood centers faced a huge challenge in balancing blood demand and supply and devising a preparedness plan to withstand the uncertain situation. This study assesses the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on blood transfusion services and discusses the appropriate mitigation strategies adopted. Methods: We analyzed our center's blood transfusion services during the first half-period of the pandemic (Y3) and non-pandemic years 2018(Y1) and 2019(Y2) in two-quarters Q1 (pre-lockdown), from January to March and Q2 (post-lockdown), from April to June. The blood donation variables, the packed red blood cells (PRBCs) demand and the utilization pattern were compared between pandemic (Y3) and non-pandemic years (Y1 and Y2) in each quarter. The mitigation strategy adopted at every step of the transfusion service is highlighted. Results: During post-lockdown (Q2) of the pandemic year (Y3), the blood donation was majorly by repeat donors (83%) from the in-house site (82.5%). Furthermore, the proportion of outdoor donation, deferral, blood collection, demand and issue demonstrated a significant drop of 50%, 32.6%, 33%, 31.8% and 32.3%, respectively, in comparison to Q2 of the non-pandemic years (Y1 and Y2), with a statistically significant difference for surgical and hemorrhagic indications (p |
