By Jenna Cocullo, Local Journalism Initiative
Approximately 150 individuals were asked to self-isolate after an individual at a recent mobile blood donor event at Chatham’s YMCA tested positive for COVID-19.
On Friday and Saturday, CK Public Health notified all of the contacts of this case associated with the blood donor clinic and were instructed to isolate and get tested for COVID-19.
“Canadian Blood Services keeps fantastic records of who attended the clinic, which made it easier for our team to contact trace,” said Stephanie Egelton, public relations officer, CK Public Health. “You don’t need to isolate or get tested unless we have contacted you.”
As of Monday morning, CK Public Health has not had any results come back from the contacts.
Collections events scheduled over the weekend in the Chatham-Kent and Windsor areas were cancelled as a precautionary measure while Canadian Blood Services continues to investigate this situation with public health. They are working closely with both public health units because the individual is not a Chatham-Kent resident .
“We want to reassure the public that the safety or our donors, staff and volunteers is a priority and Canadian Blood Services has robust safety measures in place at our facilities and collection events across the country, including mandatory masks, additional PPE, enhanced cleaning, wellness checkpoints and physical distancing to safeguard our teams, donors and operations,” said Delphine Denis, manager, Canadian Blood Services Media Relations.
All employees, volunteers and donors have to be screened through the wellness checkpoints at the blood clinics. All locations have strict cleaning protocols and individuals are asked to monitor their health and stay home if they develop symptoms of COVID-19 (cough, fever, difficulty breathing).
“Over the last eight months, the number of cases involving employees and donors has been low, indicating that the safety measures in place at our facilities are working to protect those who walk through our doors,” said Denis.
