Massive amounts of medical waste produced by the Chinese coronavirus pandemic have accumulated worldwide and pose an increasing “threat” to global public health, the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) warned in a report published on Tuesday.
The W.H.O. said on February 1 it estimates to have shipped “87,000 tonnes” of medical equipment to poorer nations in need of Chinese coronavirus health aid from March 2020 to November 2021.
“Most of this equipment is expected to have ended up as waste,” according to the W.H.O., which is the international public health body of the United Nations (U.N.).
A “tonne” is a metric unit of mass equal to 1,000 kilograms or 2,204.6 pounds.
“Tens of thousands of tonnes of extra medical waste from the response to the COVID-19 [Chinese coronavirus] pandemic has put tremendous strain on health care waste management systems around the…
