The Shandong Blood Center reports that the blood group A and O stock has been kept at a red alert level for a number of days.

As a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and prolonged cold weather, among other issues, some regions across China have urged individuals to actively donate blood under rigorous personal protection requirements, according to The Global Times.

The Shandong blood center reported that Jinan, which has the province's most concentrated medical resources, is under unprecedented strain for blood supply and collection as a result of an increase in the number of hospital outpatient and surgical patients as well as optimized measures. Couple's improvised "shield" against the Covid-19 epidemic in China goes viral (Watch)

The Shandong Blood Center reports that the blood group A and O stock has been kept at a red alert level for a number of days. According to the center, the gap in clinical blood use would likely hit an all-time high during the forthcoming New Year's and Spring Festival vacations, making it extremely difficult for clinical operations and medical blood transfusions, as reported by Global Times.

According to Global Times, which quoted financial media outlet Yicai.com, the blood scarcity has put the lives of seriously ill patients and expectant mothers in several areas of the country in danger. For Guangdong province to meet the demand for clinical blood use, around 1,200 blood donors are required daily.

According to the Guangzhou Blood Center, the drop in Covid-19 cases and the cold weather are to blame for the blood supply reaching dangerously low levels. According to the Global Times, the blood center even prepared incentives for donations, such as N95 face masks and antigen testing kits, for those who wish to give blood as a gift to those in need. In order to overcome the challenges, the Shangqiu region in China's Henan province requested blood donations from locals on Wednesday. Both Jincheng and Mianyang in the provinces of Sichuan and Shanxi requested blood donations from locals.

Additionally, China's National Health Commission released updated blood donation guidelines on December 17. The new standards allowed recovered Covid-19 patients, close connections, and secondary contacts of cases to donate blood as long as they met specified requirements.

According to The Global Times, China's National Health Commission (NHC), which previously published the nation's Covid-19 case data every day, stopped doing so on Sunday.

"As of Sunday, the NHC won't publish daily data on epidemics. China's CDC will publish pertinent Covid-19 data for research and consultation "In a brief statement, the NHC stated.

The Covid case numbers on Friday were released by the National Health Commission on Saturday. 4,128 new confirmed infection cases were reported on mainland of China. On December 23, 28,865 people who had been in close contact with infected patients were released from medical monitoring, while 1,760 patients who had been treated were discharged from the hospital. There were 99 more serious cases overall.