Donate Blood to Help Others & Help Yourself
Giving blood is a huge thing you can do not only for your community but also for yourself as for a limited time the Red Cross will be testing for COVID-19 antibodies. According to WILX, it starts today but if you donate blood with the American Red Cross not only will your blood be tested for the antibody but also all platelet and plasma will be tested as well.
There are others things to know regarding this, first being that the antibody test is mostly done to help the donors insight into whether or not they have been exposed to the virus. In addition, a positive antibody test result does not confirm infection or immunity as these tests are still pretty new. Even though the tests are new it will be nice to find out if you were exposed to the virus and if you should get tested again with the nose swab test.
Finally, when you go in for a blood donation your donation will be tested as it will be sent to a testing laboratory where they will undergo routine infectious disease testing as well as the antibody test. The results on this antibody test will available to donors 7-10 days after the donation and the answer will be available on the Red Cross Donor app as well at their website.
If you want to donate you can make an appointment here or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS (1-800-733-2767). Blood donations are always very important but more so now with the coronavirus and other emergencies still prevalent.