May 14, 2020
Agra: In a video that has gone viral on the social media, two children are seen carrying firewood in a used PPE kit near Agra Cantt railway station, right in front of DRDO’s laboratory ADRDE (Aerial Delivery Research and Development Establishment).
The children, when tracked down, claimed that they had found the used PPE kit from a garbage dump near a burial site close to ADRDE laboratory.
“We used the white suit to carry our firewood. Later, when we reached home, our parents asked us to immediately get rid of the suit and we dumped it in a nearby nullah,” the children told local reporters.
The two kids belong to a nomadic tribe and had come to Agra from Bharatpur in Rajasthan in search of work but have been stranded due to the lockdown.
The father of one of the children, Om Prakash, said, “The children were not aware that the PPE kit could be infectious.
Dr Prabhat Agrawal, professor of medicine department of SN Medical College said, “Only those PPE kit will be harmful or hazardous, which have been used by medical staff who came in contact with a Covid-19 patient. However, if the discarded kit is three days old, it will cease to be harmful to anyone, as virus gets self-destroyed by then.”
The newly appointed chief medical officer (CMO) of Agra, Dr R.C. Pandey said, “I have seen the video. The PPE kit that the children are carrying is not from any government medical facility. The kits purchased by us are blue in colour while this one is white.”
He said that all the medical waste generated at hospitals is being collected in separate containers. It is sprayed with disinfectant and carried to a disposal facility on Firozabad road. All the waste is taken out of the vehicle and again disinfected and then thrown into an electric furnace.
The CMO said that several people associated with essential services are now using locally made PPE kits and the one in the video seems to be one of those.
The children in the video and their families are yet to be tested for Corona.IANS
Sea surface temperature anomalies used to predict global dengue trends: Study
Beijing: A team of Chinese scientists has discovered that the sea surface temperature anomalies in the tropical Indian Ocean can predict the magnitude of global dengue epidemics. The study published...
New Covid variant ‘FLiRT’ capable of evading the immune system: Experts
New Delhi: The new Covid-19 variant 'FLiRT', which is spreading fast in the US, is capable of evading the immune system due to a trans substitution of amino acids between...
New Vitamin C-rich bandage to boost burn healing
New Delhi: Italian researchers have developed a novel bandage developed from biodegradable material and loaded with vitamin C to help boost the healing process of burn wounds. The bandage developed...
16.7 kg tumour ‘hanging like a gunny bag’ removed from man’s back
Gurugram: A massive tumour weighing 16.7 kgs and "hanging like a gunny bag" on the back of a 27-year-old man has successfully been removed in a 10-hour lasting complex surgery....
Iran’s Supreme leader condemns US Police’s violence against pro-Palestinian protesters
Tehran: Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei has reaffirmed the condemnation of US support for Israel's "crimes" in the Gaza Strip while commenting on the US Police's violent behaviour against pro-Palestinian...
Men at high risk of early death, women face more poor health: Lancet study
New Delhi: Men are at higher risk of premature death than women, but females tend to spend more of their lifetime in poor health, according to a new global study...
Dangerous lead levels found in kids activity kit sold by Chinese e-com giant
Seoul: A kids' activity kit being sold by a Chinese e-commerce giant has been found to contain lead about 158 times higher than permitted levels, the city government here said...
AstraZeneca admits Covishield jab raises TTS risk. Should you be worried?
New Delhi: Thrombosis Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) -- a blood clot disorder -- is a rare side effect of AstraZeneca’s Covid vaccine, and the risks far outweigh the benefits of the...
Rising STDs a concern for increasing infertility in India: Doctors
New Delhi: The spike in the number of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs) like chlamydia, gonorrhoea, syphilis, and mycoplasma genitalium are contributing to infertility in India, warned doctors on Tuesday. Sexually...
Indian-origin researcher unravels link between depression and heart disease
New Delhi: Depression and cardiovascular disease (CVD) partly develop from the same gene module, said a team of researchers establishing the long-presumed link between the two conditions. Since the 1990s,...
Kejriwal administered insulin in Tihar: AAP
New Delhi: Incarcerated Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was given insulin in Tihar jail for the first time after ED arrest, AAP sources said on Tuesday. “Kejriwal's sugar level was...
From breast cancer to brain, DNA damage – here’s how ethylene oxide can affect your health
New Delhi: Ethylene oxide is a cancer-causing agent that can raise the risk of breast cancer, as well as cause damage to the DNA, the brain, and the nervous system...
