Madurai Corporation has been tasked with the disposal of biomedical waste in a safe manner, taking utmost caution, as a large number of asymptomatic COVID-19 patients are being treated in home isolation in many parts of the city.
Assistant City Health Officer S. Vinodh Raja said 260 patients were under home isolation in the city limits as on Thursday. The civic body has been disposing of the biomedical waste of those under home isolation based on a set of guidelines issued by the Central Pollution Control Board.
Green bags are given to every positive patient under home quarantine to dump biomedical waste. Conservancy workers collect them from the houses on pre-determined days. “First the bag is completely disinfected using liquid disinfectant and bleaching powder. Then the conservancy worker picks up the bag and places it inside one of the bins earmarked for biomedical waste in their vehicle. Once again, the whole bin is completely disinfected,” said a Corporation Sanitary Officer.
All conservancy workers have been given face masks and hand gloves to ensure their safety, he said.
Mr. Raja said the bags are then given to the respective Urban Primary Health Centres from where they were picked up and incinerated at a Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility in Virudhunagar. In some wards, Sanitary Inspectors said they dumped the collected biomedical waste into dumper bins designated in all four zones. “Based on a fixed schedule, the contractor picks up the waste for incineration,” said a Sanitary Inspector.
An employee from the treatment facility said biomedical waste from those under home isolation would mostly include face masks, hand gloves and used instruments. “Only in the recent past has the biomedical waste from those under home isolation has increased. But safety measures are adopted as caution is the key during such times,” he said.
