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By Carrie Campbell, for The Gazette
For anyone curious to know if they’ve had the coronavirus but were asymptomatic or had mild symptoms, there’s a way to find out that also can help save lives.
The Red Cross is offering free screening for COVID-19 antibodies for all blood donations from now until the end of March. The program began in June through an emergency use authorization from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
“Really, what this does is it provides insight to our donors as to whether or not they have been exposed to the coronavirus,” said Laura McGuire, spokesperson for the Red Cross. “It does not mean that we are diagnostically testing.”
By Carrie Campbell, for The Gazette
As health care providers were finding some medicines ineffective in treating COVID-19, they turned to a method long used in treating viruses: convalescent plasma.
“In the early days of the pandemic, blood providers everywhere in the U.S. were collecting plasma from people who had a COVID-19 infection and recovered because the plasma actually contains antibodies to COVID itself,” said Kirby Winn, spokesperson for the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center.
Plasma is the liquid portion of your blood that contains antibodies that fight off infections.
Donating plasma is different from donating blood. When you donate whole blood, it goes directly into a collection bag. When you donate plasma, the blood that’s drawn from your arm goes into a machine that separates the different parts of your blood. The plasma is collected and the unused parts, including your red blood cells, are put back in your vein.
Voice Correspondent
MACOMB Mayor Mike Inman discussed Friday a three-legged stool of community strategies for coping with the coronavirus pandemic. He said they are mitigation, testing, and vaccination.
Inman spoke from Macomb City Hall and his comments have been posted to the Macomb You-Tube channel.
The mayor said McDonough County has a less than three percent COVID-19 positivity rate and that the regional rate is around five percent. He said three days at 6.5 percent or less is the Restore Illinois Phase 4 standard.
Inman announced Illinois Department of Public Health COVID-19 testing dates in Macomb. All will be held from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. at Tanner Hall Circle on the campus of Western Illinois University. Testing will be done on February 4, 8, 15, and 17.
The Galesburg Noon Lions Club is sponsoring a blood drive in cooperation with the Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center to be held on Friday, February 5 from 11:30 to 2:30 at Galesburg City Hall, 55 West Tompkins St.
Appointments are necessary and can be made at Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center’s website at www.bloodcenterimpact.org or by contacting the local coordinator, Jim Browning, by voice or text at 309-335-2994 or email at jeanbrowning46@gmail.com. Face covering is required.
The Galesburg Noon Lions Club was chartered on November 18, 1920 and celebrated its 100th anniversary last year. To commemorate that anniversary the Lions Club chose to sponsor blood drives with the goal of achieving 100 units by the anniversary date. The first drive was held in November 2018 and nearly 200 units have been collected since then. If you are a donor or would like to be a donor please consider donating at this very crucial time. All blood types are needed and first time donors a