Health Ministry issues waste-handling guidelines for those quarantined at home amid Covid

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has issued guidelines regarding handling and disposal of waste generated during the treatment of those infected with coronavirus, including those who are in quarantine at home or in government facilities.

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Guidelines to handle waste for those quarantined at home

The Health Ministry has stated the following guidelines should be followed:

• General solid waste (household waste) generated from quarantine centers or camps should be handed over to waste collectors identified by Urban Local Bodies or as per the prevailing local method of disposing general solid waste.
• Biomedical waste if any generated from quarantine centers/camps should be collected separately in yellow-colored bags (suitable for biomedical waste collection) provided by ULBs. These bags can be placed in separate and dedicated dust-bins of appropriate size.
• Persons operating Quarantine camps/centers should call the CBWTF operator to collect biomedical waste as and when it gets generated. Contact details of CBWTFs would be available with Local Authorities

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In terms of disposing of biomedical waste, the government has stated the following:

• Hand over the yellow bags containing biomedical waste to authorized waste collectors at doorsteps engaged by local bodies;
• Deposit biomedical waste in yellow bags at designated deposition Centers established by ULBs. The bag again be stored in yellow bag or container;
• Handover the biomedical waste to waste collector engaged by CBWTF operator at the doorstep.

The guidelines have to be followed by all the stakeholders including isolation wards, quarantine centers, sample collection centers, laboratories, ULBs and common biomedical waste treatment and disposal facilities.

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The government's guidelines also cover isolation wards, sample collection laboratories where suspected individuals are tested and the duties of Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facilities, local bodies, etc

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