Daily COVID-19 digest
Reminder — virtual open board meeting tomorrow: For the first time in its 20-year history, Canadian Blood Services’ board of directors will be holding an online, virtual open board meeting tomorrow, June 23 from 2:45–5:30pm (EST). As part of the meeting, our CEO, Dr. Graham Sher, will be holding a Q&A session with employees and members of the public. Watch and participate at obm.blood.ca starting at 2:45 pm (EST). You can pose questions for our Q&A session by email to engage@blood.ca and tune in to watch that part of the agenda from 4:00–4:30. More information on the agenda and how to participate is included in the outlook invite sent to you last week. We look forward to virtually seeing you all there!
The numbers are in — National Blood Donor Week:
This year, National Blood Donor Week (NBDW) was unlike any other. Not only did we pivot to celebrate online and get the word out using digital tools, we surpassed all our projected targets and had the most successful NBDW in many years.
Thanks to the efforts of our teams across the organization, during NBDW we saw an impressive 67 per cent increase in the number of blood appointments; quadrupled the number of news mentions; received over 35 acknowledgments from federal and provincial ministers, including the prime minister; and experienced a 94 per cent increase in blood.ca traffic as well as whopping 456 percent increase in organic social media impressions from the year prior.
We also saw support for NBDW and World Blood Donor day reach new heights thanks to those of you on the frontline who brought our celebrations to life in our donor centres. Despite the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic, your stories, pictures and heartfelt enthusiasm inspired more Canadians to donate blood — many for the first time.
Thank you to all of you who joined us during NBDW to donate blood, inspire friends and family and share incredible stories of generosity. By coming together, we are showing Canadians that that no matter how challenging the times are — what we do matters.
Question of the day: Will donors whose blood has been tested as part of the seroprevalence study be notified if they have COVID-19 antibodies?
At this time, individual donors will not be informed of their antibody status. Unlike other testing Canadian Blood Services does, such as for HIV or hepatitis, a positive result to the COVID-19 antibody test would not result in the donor requiring medical attention. The antibody’s presence indicates that the individual has already successfully overcome the virus that causes COVID-19; however, it is not yet clear if it provides ongoing protection and for how long.
Learn more on Connect.
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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.