Masks dumped in household garbage pose risk to sweepers
Rumu Banerjee, TNN 16 August 2009, 12:00am IST
NEW DELHI: The Delhi health department is gearing up to tackle home quarantine in a big way. The first issue, says Delhi health minister Kiran
Walia, is the disposal of masks being used by H1N1 positive patients in their homes.
"We've received complaints of the masks being discarded as part of the daily garbage. This could be fatal, as the garbage gets collected by waste collection staff, who may then either contract the virus or pass it on,'' said Walia. To check this, the health department is planning to come out with a set of guidelines for NDMC and MCD safai karamcharis.
"From safe disposal of the masks to suggesting protective gear for the collection staff, the guidelines will try and address all the issues that we have seen cropping up in home quarantine conditions in the past week,'' added Walia. The safest way, she said, to dispose off the masks is to use a bleaching agent. "We've had extensive discussions with doctors on the issue and the consensus is to use dry bleach powder. Once this is sprinkled, the mask can just be thrown into the garbage,'' she added.
The health department also plans to suggest civic bodies to provide adequate protective gear like gloves to their staff and also ensure that garbage collection points and dhalaos are disinfected with bleaching powder.
The guidelines come even as MCD officials admitted that no set of separate guidelines have been issued by the municipal body in view of the H1N1 pandemic. MCD media director, Deep Mathur, said: "There are no set guidelines but we will review the matter and act accordingly.'' While MCD officials say that waste collection staff are equipped with gear like gloves and gumshoes, the fact is that few use it to collect garbage from residences.
Rumu Banerjee, TNN 16 August 2009, 12:00am IST
NEW DELHI: The Delhi health department is gearing up to tackle home quarantine in a big way. The first issue, says Delhi health minister Kiran
Walia, is the disposal of masks being used by H1N1 positive patients in their homes.
"We've received complaints of the masks being discarded as part of the daily garbage. This could be fatal, as the garbage gets collected by waste collection staff, who may then either contract the virus or pass it on,'' said Walia. To check this, the health department is planning to come out with a set of guidelines for NDMC and MCD safai karamcharis.
"From safe disposal of the masks to suggesting protective gear for the collection staff, the guidelines will try and address all the issues that we have seen cropping up in home quarantine conditions in the past week,'' added Walia. The safest way, she said, to dispose off the masks is to use a bleaching agent. "We've had extensive discussions with doctors on the issue and the consensus is to use dry bleach powder. Once this is sprinkled, the mask can just be thrown into the garbage,'' she added.
The health department also plans to suggest civic bodies to provide adequate protective gear like gloves to their staff and also ensure that garbage collection points and dhalaos are disinfected with bleaching powder.
The guidelines come even as MCD officials admitted that no set of separate guidelines have been issued by the municipal body in view of the H1N1 pandemic. MCD media director, Deep Mathur, said: "There are no set guidelines but we will review the matter and act accordingly.'' While MCD officials say that waste collection staff are equipped with gear like gloves and gumshoes, the fact is that few use it to collect garbage from residences.