Only three weeks’ worth of blood

Blood stocks in Cyprus are at dangerously low levels and present amounts will only last three weeks, said the head of the blood bank Androula Panayiotou.

Speaking to the Cyprus News Agency on Thursday, Panayiotou called on people to donate as much blood as they can to front the ongoing shortage on the island.

“The blood bank has been facing problems since the beginning of the year, since a very high number of people are suffering from Covid-19 or flu A or B,” she said.

“This issue has prevented thousands of donors from giving blood in the past month, which resulted in a general shortage. Right now, finding blood is a daily struggle for us.”

Panayiotou added that, as things stand, the blood bank’s stock will last for three more weeks.

“Around 300 blood bags are needed every day and at the moment we only manage to collect 250 of them every day, with the number rising to 400 or 500 during weekends. It’s a very low rate,” she said, adding that the effort to find supplies is “a daily struggle.”