WINDSOR

Blood donation clinics reopen in Chatham-Kent

Published Wednesday, November 25, 2020 3:08PM EST

In 2015, Canadian Blood Services closed its blood donor clinic in Sydney. The closure resulted in the nearest clinic – a mobile clinic in Port Hawkesbury – being an hour and a half drive away, which prospective donors say is too far.

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WINDSOR, ONT. -- Blood donation clinics are back up and running in Chatham-Kent after a brief hiatus.

Officials “paused” blood collection clinics in late October after an employee at a YMCA blood clinic in Chatham was infected with COVID-19.

In a statement to CTV News, officials say it “impacted collecting a small amount of units.”

Clinics reopened Tuesday in Chatham-Kent, and at a good time with the holiday season coming up.

“It gets generally challenging to collect blood,” says Marisa Gatfield, territory manager at the Canadian Blood Services. “Collection opportunities will be lost over the holidays because of the timing of the statutory holidays which could put the platelet inventory at risk.”

Officials say blood donations fall off in the last two weeks of December.