Blood transfusion services amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

The year 2020 marked the beginning of a major change in the way we humans live and interact due to the COVID-19 pandemic [1,2]. The causative agent of this disease is severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Due to the relatively mild symptoms in the early phase of infection, a long incubation period and a high infectivity rate, SARS-COV-2 has spread at lightning speed globally. To date, the number of COVID-19 cases has exceeded 120 million globally and continues to rise exponentially with a fatality ratio of 0.5%–1.0%, and this ratio increases with age. Despite headlines on COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, the ability of the virus to mutate leaves many uncertainties particularly with regard to the efficacies of vaccines and treatments.