TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Taiwan's blood supply has fallen to five days after heavy rain disrupted donation sites and street blood drives across the country.
The Taiwan Blood Services Foundation put the nationwide supply at five days as of 7:30 a.m. Sunday, including blood bags received but not yet processed, per CNA.
The foundation uses one week of supply as its minimum safety line. Anything below that is listed as low, while stocks under four days are treated as urgent. By Sunday morning, type B was the only blood group still above the line, with 7.1 days available.
The tightest overall supplies were in Taipei and Taichung, where blood centers each had an average of 4.7 days. Taichung had 4.2 days of type O, 4.4 days of type A, 5.4 days of type AB, and 5.7 days of type B, according to the report.
Taipei had 4.3 days of type O, 4.2 days of type A, 5.2 days of type AB, and 6.2 days of type B. In Kaohsiung, type O was down to 3.5 days, below the foundation's critical threshold.
The foundation attributed the drop to days of rain that brought flooding, school and workplace closures, temporary shutdowns at some donation sites, and canceled blood drives, per the report. Cleanup work in flooded areas and poor weather also kept donors away.
It urged people to donate as conditions improve, warning that hospitals in central and southern Taiwan could face serious shortages if supplies are not replenished quickly.
