Daily COVID-19 digest

Your daily digest is changing!

Over the last four months, we’ve been bringing you the latest organizational updates, sharing inspirational stories and answering your most burning questions related to COVID-19. The daily digest was born as a vehicle to make sure that you, the employee, had access to the latest updates on COVID-19 and how Canadian Blood Services was responding.

We are not out of the woods yet — information on the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rapidly evolve. However, with the help of our dedicated teams across the country, we have successfully implemented measures that position us well to respond to emerging information on the virus, protect our employees, volunteers and donors and safeguard our essential operations.

The digest was always meant to bring you value — information about what you need to know, without the stuff you don’t. We surveyed employees a few weeks ago, and although you told us you enjoy the product (thank you!), many of you noted that the pace of information that employees need to receive is slowing down.

Based on your shared feedback and to ensure our readers are getting the most value, effective next week, we will be sending you the digest twice a week — on Tuesdays and Friday’s at 11 a.m. ET. The content we will be sharing with you is also changing. In addition to important COVID-19 updates, we will be bringing you valuable information and inspiring stories about other parts of our operations as we return to slightly more “normal” priorities.

Even though we will be showing up in your inbox a little less, we promise to keep it short, informative and with your interests in mind. Have questions? Contact us at communications@blood.ca.

How cord blood saves lives: Lourdess Sumners, a 22-year-old theatre student from Duncan, B.C., is living life to the fullest twelve years after a stem cell transplant to cure childhood leukemia. Her transplant used stem cells from umbilical cord blood — a vital resource for many patients, but especially those of mixed ethnicity, who often have much more difficulty finding a matching donor. “The world is a diverse place and more people need to donate and be a part of it,” says Lourdess, whose parents are Caucasian and Filipino. “It’s just one small thing that can affect somebody’s life in the best way possible.” Read more about Lourdess’s journey and the importance of cord blood donation at blood.ca/stories.

Question of the day: There’s been mention in the news about a scientific commentary with emerging evidence of the airborne spread of COVID-19. Will this affect our current safety measures or the return to office plan?

We are aware of the commentary and have studied it carefully. In line with the WHO and PHAC we have determined the evidence does not support changes to the measures we currently have in place.

The commentary does serve as a reminder however that we need to maintain physical distancing at all times where possible, including during breaks, at lunch or when using office equipment like photocopiers.

We are actively monitoring all new research and working closely with public health and will adjust measures quickly if needed.

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About the daily digest

This daily digest will highlight the latest policy and employee support measures, resources to help you manage our new reality and original content like articles and videos to remind us that what we do matters. Things are moving quickly, so you can expect to hear from us daily. No access to email? No problem — all this information and more can be found on blood.ca/employees from any device, no login required. 

Click here to read past editions of the daily digest.

Have questions? Check out blood.ca/employees or email us at communications@blood.ca.