Biomedical Waste Management in a COVID Care Hospital and its Challenges

Background: Bio-Medical Waste (BMW) management is of the utmost importance, as its improper management poses a serious threat to health care workers, waste handlers, patients, care givers, the community, and finally the environment. The waste produced in the course of healthcare activities carries a higher potential for infection and injury than any other type of waste. In addition to this, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has posed a huge challenge to all fields of the healthcare sector, starting right from disease screening up to biomedical waste disposal. Methodology: We assessed the quantity of Biomedical Waste generated in the COVID-19 isolation wards of this hospital from the month of March 2020 to February 2021. Over a period of 47 weeks, the data was recorded based on the color coding for biomedical waste segregation and the total waste generated per week was analyzed. Results: Upon analysing the data it was seen that in week 26 - 2088 kg of biomedical waste was generated, highest out of all 47 weeks. This was followed by weeks 11 and 16, with a total of 1969 kg of waste being generated. Week 38 had the least amount of waste generated- 308 kg. At the end of 47 weeks the total amount of waste generated from the COVID-19 isolation wards was 57,895 kg. Challenges to manage biomedical waste management were Human resources, Training, Usage of PPE, Quarantine practices. Collection of Biomedical waste and transport was out sourced. Conclusion: Biomedical waste is a serious health concern. Covid was highly contagious and it was transmitting very rapidly. To avoid transmission, usage of Personal protective equipment, segregation of Biomedical Waste properly according to the Biomedical waste guidelines.