Ministry of Environment announced on March 2nd that revised special measures are implemented according to the '3rd edition of special measures for COVID-19 waste safety management.'

The revised special measures announced today by CDSCHQ include waste disposal measures related to the amended 'Treatment System for Local Spread' that was changed by 'the guidelines on Covid-19 response' announced by CDSCHQ today.

Following the amendment to the guidelines on the Covid-19 response (7th edition by CDSCHQ), a symptomatic patients or those with mild symptoms are monitored and  supported by 'community treatment centers.' Waste generated by ed patients is classified as isolated medical waste and incinerated the same day.

The waste is sealed and disinfected from the releasing point and stored in a separate area. A specialized collector transports wastes on the same day and incinerates them safely.

To ensure swift responses, the administrative process has been streamlined such as ation of plans for designated waste material disposal, which is discharging party’s duty and post-treatment is allowed.

   * Officials were dispatched from the Daegu Regional Environmental Service to a community treatment center in Daegu on March 1st to support medical waste disposal.

Also, if ed patients stay home before moving to a hospital or a community treatment center, medical waste should be disposed of by a local community health center. However, when there are too many patients to accommodate, heads of nearby environmental service shall set up separate emergency collection, transportation, and disposal system. 

When ed patients staying home ask for waste disposal to a local community health center, separately designated collector supports collection and disposal.

Even as COVID-19 spreads, medical waste decreased by 1,898 tons year-on-year in February 2020, according to Ministry of Environment. Medical waste processing capacity has not been exceeded yet.

That is because while medical waste from an increasing number of isolated patients rose by 289.6 tons* year-on, general medical waste fell by 2,377.2 tons as low-infectious disposable diapers have been excluded from general medical waste.

   * Isolation medical waste related to COVID-19 was 0.14 tons in January and 52.01 tons in February.

Ministry of Environment will be closely monitoring how Covid-19 develops and take swift actions to ensure safety in medical waste management.