Photo by Xinmin Evening News reporter Xu Cheng
< span> Xinmin Evening News (Reporter Jin Minyi) In the past few days, the first batch of new crown antigen test kits have arrived in Shanghai pharmacies. So, how should the test boxes used by citizens be thrown away?
The Shanghai Resource Utilization and Garbage Classification Management Affairs Center stated that if quarantined observers conduct the test, whether the test result is negative or positive, all used swabs, Sampling tubes and test cards should be placed in airtight bags and disposed of as medical waste after collection.
If community residents test themselves, if the test result is negative, all nasal swabs, sampling tubes, and test cards should be put into sealed bags as general garbage. The sealed bag can be sterilized and then placed in the dry trash can. If the test result is positive, after the bag is sealed, it will be handed over to the medical institution when the personnel are transported, and it will be disposed of as medical waste.
For used masks, gloves, and protective clothing that have been used in designated hospitals, fever clinics, community health stations, etc., they should be thrown into medical waste bins. Suspected patients with novel coronavirus infection and their caregivers have used them, and they should be collected and disposed of as infectious medical waste. For ordinary citizens who have used it in their daily work and life, it is recommended to remove them correctly and put them in a plastic bag, tie the bag tightly, spray disinfectant if conditions permit, and then put it in a dry garbage container.
Why do some of the above items go into the dry bin instead of the hazardous bin? Relevant departments said that before the hazardous waste generated in the residential area enters the terminal for treatment, there is a pre-processing and sorting process, which involves manual sorting. And such used things are not safe for direct contact with the human body. At the same time, the production of hazardous waste in residential areas is small, and the frequency of removal and transportation is much lower than that of dry waste. The dry garbage in the residential area is produced and cleaned daily, and after being collected and transported by a special person and a special vehicle, it is directly sent to the disposal base for high-temperature incineration, which can reduce hidden dangers.