The Marwari Hospitals at Athgaon here has run out of stock in its blood bank owing to lack of donors during the lockdown, compelling the authorities to use the social media to seek blood donation to meet exigencies.

The hospital used to organise blood donation camps to replenish its blood bank.

However, the lockdown has put a halt to the visit of donors to the hospital and organising of blood donation camps.

The hospital received around 40-50 units from a blood donation camp earlier, which used to last for 10 days. Three to four such camps will help the hospital collect more than 100 units of blood.

The hospital authorities said its demand for blood had increased owing to shifting of patients from government-run hospitals to private hospitals after a directive to treat only novel coronavirus patients at state-run hospitals, barring a few departments.

“The hospital is currently in need of 10 to 15 units of blood daily. The lockdown has hampered chances to organise blood donation camps. I have requested a few people to donate blood. They need not come in a large group to donate blood,” hospital blood bank chairman D.P. Bajaj said on Wednesday.

In the morning, Bajaj took to Facebook requesting blood donors to come forward.

“In the present situation, we are not in a position to organise any blood donation camp. You all are supporting our mission. Please arrange blood donation in groups of 4/5 people. In this grim situation we need your support. We are thankful to few of you who are supporting us in this mission. If we don’t get your support we may have to refuse patients which we don’t do usually. Please. Please come up,” he posted on Facebook.

Touch of Humanity, an NGO which ferries blood donors, also admitted that the rate of blood donation in the present scenario is comparatively less compared to other days.

“Donors are not willing to come out during this period. I received a call from a donor urging us to collect the blood from a place near his location. Earlier, we used to get eight to 10 calls per week from people willing to donate blood. The number has come down to two or three. There is a need of blood on April 15 for a major surgery in a certain hospital. I have two donors in hand for patients in B. Borooah Cancer Institute tomorrow,” Touch of Humanity founding member Hirak Jyoti Bora said.

The city requires 300 units of blood every day. Of this, 10 to 15 per cent comes from voluntary blood donation and 30 to 40 per cent from replacement cells of various blood banks.