China continues to optimize medical waste disposal

China has been improving its medical waste and sewage disposal capacity for better control of the COVID-19 outbreak, according to the Ministry of Ecology and Environment (MEE).

The medical waste disposal facilities of the country are currently running at about 60.8 percent of their capacities on average, and medical waste can be disposed of in a timely manner, said Zhou Zhiqiang, an official with the MEE, at a press conference.

As of April 10, China's medical waste disposal capacity had reached 6,704 metric tons per day, up 23.9 percent from 4,902.8 tons per day before the epidemic outbreak, Zhou said.

Seeing improvement in epidemic control, the amount of medical waste produced in Wuhan has fallen from a peak of 247 tons per day to 117 tons, according to Zhou.

Meanwhile, the country's 2,029 urban sewage treatment plants that receive medical sewage nationwide are running smoothly and have strictly implemented disinfection measures, the official said.

Zhou said the MEE will keep a close eye on areas with high epidemic risks.