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The gift of life Blood center to collect plasma to help treat patients with COVID-19 infection Mississippi Valley Regional Blood Center (MVRBC) will collect plasma donations from patients who have recovered from a COVID-19 infection to help newly diagnosed patients fight the disease. The treatment, known as convalescent plasma therapy, requires plasma provided by donors who have recently recovered from a COVID-19 infection. These donors will have antibodies to help fight CO-
VID-19. The treatment has been used in recent years to treat victims of Ebola, SARS, and H1N1 influenza. “Our teams have moved quickly to develop processes and protocol to provide convalescent plasma for the hospitals we serve,” said Mike Parejko, Chief Executive Officer. “While this treatment is not a cure, it might help alleviate the symptoms patients experience with COVID-19. If we can help take a patient off a ventilator or get them out of the hospital, it will help patients return to good health and free up precious resources when they are needed most.” To provide convalescent plasma, donors must be fully recovered from their COVID-19 infection and must meet all standard eligibility criteria for blood donation. Plasma will only be collected from donors
with laboratory-confirmed tests showing they had a COVID-19 infection and must be at least 28 days from the last date they experienced symptoms. Each donor must be referred to the blood center by their physician or care provider, who must provide certain information to qualify the donor. A donor must meet standard criteria for donor eligibility. Donors will be scheduled for a plasma donation at an MVRBC Donor Center. Potential donors are asked to contact their physician to make a referral as a COVID-19 convalescent plasma donor. Physicians wishing to refer patients for donation should use the referral form available at www.bloodcenter. org. For additional information, potential donors or physicians may send inquiries to patientservices@mvrbc.org.
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4 | OUR TOWN | MAY 2020
Local theater companies join forces to navigate the COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic presents a multitude of obstacles to overcome for organizations of all types, and theater groups are no exception. Sharon Hunter, Artistic Director-Producer of Moonstone Theatre Company, aims to help address some of the virus-related challenges that the St. Louis theatre community faces by forming the St. Louis Theatre Community Task Force. “As I was thinking about how to proceed with my own company in the wake of the pandemic, I started thinking it would be helpful to get a lot of the theaters to sit down via Zoom and discuss concerns, ideas and solutions for moving forward as we navigate the future of theatre in St. Louis,” Hunter explains. The task force will address concerns including conducting safe auditions, rehearsals and performances, finding new ways to seat audiences, maintaining the visibility of the St. Louis theatre community, new ways to offer theatre experiences and recommendations for the use of personal protective equipment. Hunter said the task force, which is the first of its kind in the St. Louis area, welcomes local theatre groups of all sizes. In addition
to these organizations, representatives from the St. Louis County Department of Health and the Center For Disease Control have also been invited to the first online meeting to address questions and concerns. Theatre companies invited to participate include R-S Theatrics, The Q Collective, The Midnight Company, Slightly Askew Theatre Ensemble, Upstream Theater, Repertory Theatre of St. Louis, COCA, Shakespeare Festival STL, Black Rep, Stray Dog Theatre, Stages St. Louis, St. Louis Actors’ Studio, The Muny, Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, New Jewish Theatre, Cherokee Street Theatre, The Cabaret Project of St. Louis, Max & Louie Productions, Black Mirror Theatre, Young Liars, West End Theatre Guild, Tennessee Williams Festival, New Line Theatre, ERA Theatre Company, STL Fringe Festival, Shakespeare Festival STL, Metro Theatre Company and the Tesseract Theatre Company. Theatre groups interested in interested in participating should contact Hunter at moonstonetheatrestl@gmail.com. For more info, check their Facebook page for updates: https://www.facebook.com/STLTheatre/.
