Medical Waste Generation during COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) Pandemic and Its Management: An Indian Perspective

The generation of biomedical waste has increased many times after the SARS Cov2 commencement. The biomedical waste generated from COVID-19 Patients is very infectious and contaminated. Thus, it is a big challenge with all stakeholders to avoid spreading of COVID-19 through it. This requires monitoring the complete cycle to the grave to be monitored from the cradle, if the spreading needs to be controlled. The COVID-19 waste generation, collection, storage, transportation and disposal is a big challenge withall stakeholders including isolation wards, quarantine centres, sample collection centres, laboratories, urban local bodies, and the Common Bio-medical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) respectively. As its a novel virus and WHO has instructed that proper guidelines need to be followed with regards to COVID-19biomedical waste generation and its safe disposal. The Government of India has separately developed the Guidelines for the handling of COVID-19 biomedical waste, which needs to be followed besides BiomedicalRules, 2016 so that Corona spread through this can be controlled. Owing to its novel origin and least information about its behaviour, thus it is extremely important to take all precautions possible till we get some medical treatment.