COVID-19 leads to shortage in US blood banks: NYT

NEW YORK - US blood banks are experiencing their biggest shortage in a decade due to the COVID-19 pandemic, The New York Times has recently reported.

"This is the biggest challenge that I've seen in my 30 years in the business," Chris Hrouda, the president of biomedical services at the American Red Cross, was quoted as saying.

According to American Red Cross officials, some hospitals have altered treatment for some patients or even canceled some surgeries due to the critical shortage, it said.

Noting 2021 is the stupidest year in American history, a columnist for Los Angeles Times said "the pandemic is surely the focus of the most obtuse and ignorant public reactions and state and local policy responses to any crisis in American history."