MURRELLS INLET, SC (WBTW) – Tidelands Health and the American Red Cross are asking the public to donate blood to help with a shortage amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

The blood drive will be Tuesday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tidelands Health Conference Center in Murrells Inlet.

Officials encourage healthy people to donate their blood. A press release from Tidelands Health says the American Red Cross is facing a ‘severe’ blood shortage since an ‘unprecedented’ amount of blood drives have been cancelled.

Tidelands says it has not experienced a critical shortage of blood but it has put in place strategies to safeguard its supply.

Several precautions will be taken at Tuesday’s blood drive.

Donors will have their temperatures taken when arriving, and will not be allowed to donate if their temperature is 99.5 degrees or higher.

Organizers will be disinfecting surfaces and providing hand sanitizer. Workers will also be practicing social distancing.

Donors must be healthy, at least 17 years old and at least 110 pounds.

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