Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on medical waste management: a case study

In this study, the effect of the Covid-19 outbreak on medical waste was evaluated via assessing the solid waste generation, composition, and management status in five hospitals in Iran. The results indicated that the epidemic Covid-19 leads to increased waste generation on average 102.2  % in both private and public hospitals. In addition, the ratio of infectious waste in the studied hospitals increased by an average of 9 % in medical waste composition and 121 % compared with before COVID-19 pandemic. Changes in plans and management measurement such as increasing the frequenc y of waste collection per week leads to lower the risk of infection transmission from medical waste in the studied hospitals. The results obtained from the present research clearly show the changes in medical waste generation and waste composition within pandemic Covid-19. In addition, established n ew ward, Covid-19 ward with high-infected waste led to new challenges which should be managed properly by change in routine activities.
Source: Journal of Environmental Health Science and Engineering - Category: Environmental Health Source Type: research