Battle Creek Times

Sen. John Bizon (R-Battle Creek) -- who is also an otolaryngologist -- is promoting blood drives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to all of the shutdowns that are happening around the world because of the coronavirus outbreak, many blood drives have been canceled, leading to a large decrease in nation's blood supply.

With the pandemic, blood drives have taken new safety measures to ensure that everyone coming in is safe while donating blood. Bizon's Facebook post stated that the University of Michigan handles the sickest of the sick, everything from newborn heart defects to trauma and cancer patients. With the supply of blood being so low, the University only has enough blood on hand to supply one day's worth of transfusions, according to the post that was published on March 20. It serves as a friendly reminder that the University of Michigan hospitals run 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days of the year, and they are in critical need.

With over 32,000 units of donated blood being used daily, reported by Blood Donation Facts, the supplies around the U.S. have been decreasing drastically. Every three seconds, a person is in need of blood, and a single pint of blood can save up to three people. Please donate if you can.