GUWAHATI, May 15 - A mentally challenged man was seen roaming on the road wearing used personal protective equipment (PPE) in Lokhra area on Thursday night. The incident has created much concern about public safety.
Some people claimed that the man had collected the PPE kits from a dustbin. The video of the incident went viral on social media immediately.
A source at Basistha Police Station said the unidentified person collected around six PPE kits from a dustbin. �But we are not sure whether these were used PPE kits or not. A team of health officials reached the spot after being informed. The person was taken to hospital and is under observation of the health authorities.�
Meanwhile, Deputy Commissioner of Kamrup (Metro) Biswajit Pegu said an inquiry would be initiated into the incident as waste related to COVID-19 needs to be disposed following a laid-down protocol.
An official in the Pollution Control Board, Assam said the Common Biomedical Waste Treatment Facility (CBWTF) of Fresh Air at Panikhaiti collects all COVID-related waste from the hospitals of the city. However, according to guidelines the PPE kits should be disposed of (buried) by the hospitals at a proper place.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, there should be separate colour-coded containers in wards for proper segregation of waste as per biomedical waste management rules.
As a precaution, double-layered bags (using two bags) should be used for collection of waste from COVID-19 isolation wards for adequate strength and to ensure there is no leakage.
There is also a dedicated collection bin labelled �COVID-19� to store COVID-19 waste which is kept separately in a temporary storage room prior to being handed over to authorised staff of CBWTF.
In addition to mandatory labelling, bags/containers used for collecting biomedical waste from COVID-19 wards, should be labelled �COVID-19 Waste�. This marking would enable CBWTFS to identify the waste easily for priority treatment and disposal immediately upon its receipt.
