Mr Gong Wei explores the lessons we can learn about the need for adequate medical waste disposal capacity from the experiences of Wuhan and New York City…
In January 2020, many people in Wuhan had symptoms such as fever, fatigue and cough but only some went to the hospital. However, before January 20, nobody knew anything about COVID-19. As the number of patients increased sharply after January 20, hospitalization shortage became quite serious and many patients had to go back home to recover by themselves.
It was a difficult situation. Meanwhile, there was no credible data confirming the number of people that were infected or who had died due to COVID-19 in January because there was no extensive testing at that moment.
From Jan 23 to Feb 11, Wuhan government had officially declared the lockdown of the city, but people could still walk around in the city and meet with others as usual. There were no mandatory policies that restricted people to stay home or keep social distancing.
As a result, the infection continued to expand, and the number of infected cases still grew rapidly. Meanwhile, medical waste growth far exceeded the capability of existing treatment/disposal plants. A large quantity of medical waste piled up in hospitals and could not be disposed of in a timely manner.
From February 11 to March 18, Some Wuhan government officials had been replaced because of their inability to do the job. The new top management officials of Wuhan government implemented very strict community isolation policies and extensive testing protocols for all people who had fever and cough or had any contact with someone confirmed with Covid-19…read more
Fuente: WASTE MANAGEMENT WORLD