January 7, 2025, press release from Versiti: DAYTON, Ohio — (January 7, 2025) — As the winter holidays wrap and Ohioans turn their focus to catching up at school and work, local officials are worried about possible life-threatening blood shortages in the coming weeks. Winter storms are posing an even greater threat to the blood supply. The winter months often see a drop in donors due to travel, seasonal illnesses and severe weather. Monday’s winter storm, for example, led to the rare closure of Versiti Blood Center of Ohio’s Dayton Community Blood Center and the cancelation of mobile blood drives.

A new Cleveland Clinic study found that having a history of COVID-19 can double a person’s long-term risk for heart attack, stroke, and even death. “There were several surprising findings about this study,” said Stanley Hazen, MD, PhD, cardiologist for Cleveland Clinic. “First, just having a COVID-19 positive test, a PCR positive test, results in at least a two-fold increase in risk. And this risk doesn't show any sign of attenuation. That was a surprising part. As far out as follow-up data was available, which is three years of follow-up, the heightened risk remains.” Dr. Hazen said they also discovered that the long-term risk for cardiac issues increased if the person was hospitalized for COVID-19. In fact, their risk was comparable to someone who had a heart attack before. So, what does all of this mean?