Challenges in medical waste management amid COVID-19 pandemic in a megacity Dhaka
Golam Mahbub Faisal, M. Nazmul Hoque, MH Rahman, Tofazzal Islam
Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has altered global waste generation dynamics, which is a challenging task for poor countries having inefficient waste management system. On an average, 6,180 tons of medical waste (MW) during this COVID-19 pandemic is generated per month in the Dhaka city. This voluminous amount of MW generated in the Dhaka city is remained poorly managed, and thus, posing a serious threat to public health and environment. To protect any risk of spread of SARS-CoV-2 through MW, a concerted and prompt effort from municipal authorities, hospital administration, and concerned non-government organization (NGOs) is needed to adopt new ways of state-of-the-art, safe and cost-effective MW management system for the Dhaka city. Furthermore, research should be directed to find out to find out other potential sources (e.g. inanimate objects or aquatic bodies) of SARS-CoV-2 infections to track its spatial and temporal dynamics, and also to get early warning in case of future outbreaks.