The American Red Cross tweeted on Tuesday that there is a “severe blood shortage” due to a number of “unprecedented” blood drive cancellations during the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

The Red Cross said it expects the number of blood drive cancellations to continue to increase, “which is causing heightened concern for blood collection organizations and hospitals across the country.”

Gail McGovern, Red Cross president and CEO, said that while the Red Cross understands why people might be hesitant to come out for a blood drive, they “want to reassure the public that blood donation is a safe process, and that we have put additional precautions in place at our blood drives" to protect the health and safety of donors and staff.

The organization is encouraging people to make an appointment to give blood by visiting

, using the

, calling 1-800-733-2767 or by activating the Blood Scheduling Skill for Amazon Alexa.

Copyright 2020 CNN. All rights reserved. Gray Media Group, Inc. contributed to this report.