It is alarming to note that most of the hospitals in the country are giving treatment to coronavirus infected patients without following proper rules and regulations concerning dumping of the infectious medical waste
If medical wastes are not treated properly, germs and virus can enter the food cycle through soil and water. This could lead to catastrophic disasters.
Covid-19 is producing large quantities of hazardous medical waste, with personal protective equipment (PPE) used in hospitals being the main component. Every set of PPE becomes hazardous medical waste after being used for a single time. Besides PPE, there are other types of hazardous waste like facial tissue, gauze pieces, masks, oxygen masks, test tubes of nasopharyngeal swabs, saline bags, disposable syringes, needles etc that are being used to treat patients.
We have to treat our medical wastes
very carefully with whatever limited
resources we have
The Covid-19 pandemic has led to tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste, putting tremendous strain on healthcare waste management systems around the world, as well as threatening human and environmental health, according to a new WHO report.
Experts are of the opinion that Covid-19 medical wastes, if not properly disposed, will fuel the transmission of the deadly disease Corona waste is 100 times more contagious than any other medical waste. Hence, it is very risky to leave these wastes here and there or not to treat them properly. Considering the situation, medical waste must be burned under controlled environment at more than 700 degree Celsius, and the gas should be released into the environment after filtering harmful particles.
But since we have not been able to develop our medical waste management systems up to this point, we have to treat our medical wastes very carefully with whatever limited resources we have. No doubt more resources and public awareness are urgently needed to ensure discarded medical waste does not make the coronavirus pandemic worse.
