Government braces for increasing medical waste during pandemic
(WorldNews Indonesia)

Shares As medical workers treat more and more COVID-19 patients, concerns are growing over how to deal with the medical waste that is expected to pile up. The virus spreads from people to people through droplets from infected persons. It is unclear how long the virus from the droplets survives on surfaces, but various studies suggest it may persist up to 72 hours on hard shiny surfaces and up to 24 hours on porous surfaces depending on the temperature and humidity. According to data from the Health Ministry, 2,820 hospitals and 9,884 community health centers (Puskesmas) in Indonesia produce up to 290 tons of medical waste every day. There are 10 licensed medical waste processing plants in...