STRESSING that the amount of Covid-19-related medical waste may also increase significantly as cases keep rising, the Department of Health (DOH) on Tuesday reminded hospitals and quarantine facilities to strictly impose the proper handling of medical waste to control the source of infection and prevent transmission of the deadly disease.
As of July 21, the DOH reported that the total number of Covid-19 cases increased to 70,764.
Responding to the inquiry of the BusinessMirror during the DOH Beat Covid televised press conference, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said that the DOH had come up with Department Memorandum 2020-0170, or the Interim Guidelines on the Management of Health Facilities, Community Quarantine Units and Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities (TTMF) with Cases of Covid-19, on the proper handling of hospital waste.
The memorandum is to provide guidance on the proper management of all Covid-19-related health-care waste in all health facilities, community quarantine units, and TTMF to prevent the spread of the disease.
The DOH underscored that waste management must be given priority to address the increase in the generation of hazardous waste, especially infectious waste related to Covid-19, as well as to ensure the welfare of all users of health-care facilities.
“The Department of Health hereby issues these guidelines on health-care waste management in all facilities with suspect, probable and confirmed Covid-19 patients as redefined in the latest patient classification of Covid-19 Case Definition for Surveillance,” the memo read.
Hospitals and quarantine facilities, Vergeire said, should follow the rules and regulations as mandated by the Environmental Management Bureau of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, including following the “waste route” for hazardous and non-hazardous waste.
She said the proper disposal for treated infectious waste is at designated sanitary landfills.
Public education
Earlier, an environmental group warned that medical waste is expected to increase with the ongoing Covid-19 outbreak.
Leon Dulce, national coordinator of Kalikasan Peoples Network for the Environment, said the public should be educated also on how to properly dispose of the face masks they are using.
“We need to educate the public and urge direct interventions from public authorities on the need to disinfect used face masks, tissue papers and other waste potentially contaminated with Covid-19,” Dulce said in a statement.
He added that if the government does not initiate mass disinfection measures, the country’s 44,000 tons of waste generated daily “are now likely infectious and can cause new surges in Covid-19 outbreaks.”
The group warned of potential risk as the increased use of face masks, personal protective equipment and other contaminated waste outside medical facilities may get mixed with municipal waste.
There are 135 treatment, storage and disposal facilities for hospital waste.
Covid -19 cases
A total of 1,951 confirmed cases were reported on Tuesday based on the total tests done by 73 out of 84 current operational labs.
The DOH also announced that there were 209 recoveries. This brings the total number of recoveries to 23,281.
Two deaths were reported. The death toll stood at 1,837.
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