Current perspectives of biomedical waste management in context of COVID-19

• Published in: Indian journal of medical microbiology Vol. 39; no. 2; pp. 171 - 178
• Main Authors: Capoor, Malini R., Parida, Annapurna
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier B.V 01-04-2021; Indian Association of Medical Microbiologists. Published by Elsevier B.V
• Subjects: Biomedical waste management; CDC; COVID-19; COVID-19 - prevention & control; CPCB Guidelines; Guidelines as Topic; Humans; Medical Waste; Patient Isolation; Personal Protective Equipment; Review; SARS-CoV-2; Sewage; Waste Management - methods; WHO-WASH; COVID-19; Biomedical waste management; CPCB Guidelines; CDC; WHO-WASH
• ISSN: 0255-0857; 1998-3646
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ijmmb.2021.03.003

COVID-19 pandemic and it's consequent biomedical waste is an unprecedented challenge worldwide. Biomedical waste generated during COVID-19 patient isolation, testing and care needs special consideration as it challenges the previous notion that only 15–20% of waste can be considered infectious. With establishment of new home quarantine facility, isolation/quarantine centres the chances of general waste getting contaminated with biomedical waste has increased exponentially. Through this systematic review the authors searched for all possible queries raised by different researchers on COVID19 waste management on Pubmed. A summary of all the different issues unique to COVID19 waste was prepared. Guidelines, rules and recommendation given by national and international agencies published till date were taken into account while trying to answer all the above questions raised by different studies. The key step in COVID19 waste management is segregation of biomedical waste from solid waste. Waste generated from COVID19 patients is like any other infectious waste, therefore creating public awareness about the COVID19 waste hazards and segregation at source is highlighted in all guidelines as a recommendation. These guidelines for management of waste generated during diagnostics and treatment of COVID-19 suspected or confirmed patients, are required to be followed in addition to existing practices under regulation. BMWM in COVID-19 context is a public health concern and is both a legal and social responsibility for all stakeholders.