8 Kids Test Positive After Playing Near Medical Waste of a Diagnostic Lab

Diagnostic Lab Face Charges Over Medical Waste Violations After 8 Kids Test Positive

A diagnostic lab in Catanduanes faces charges due to violations on medical waste after 8 kids playing near the area test positive with COVID-19.

According to a GMA News report, COVID-19 was found in eight out of 23 children in Virac, Catanduanes. They contracted the virus after reportedly playing near a diagnostics laboratory’s hazardous waste dump.

Due to the unlawful dumping of rubbish on the beach of Barangay Concepcion, members of a village council in Virac, Catanduanes, are suing the proprietors of a medical diagnostic center. Anthony Arcilla, the village leader of Concepcion, was charged for violating the Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act of 1990.

Excel Care Diagnostic and Wellness Center would be the target of the complaint, which would be filed with the municipal prosecutor’s office. He also stated that the complaint will be sent to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ Environmental Management Bureau.

According to Arcilla, village officials discovered 1,978 syringes and 2,000 blood sample tubes for COVID-19 testing and HIV test kits inside a waste disposal plastic bag, some of which were spread over Purok 3’s beach. Village authorities went to the location after being told that several youngsters were observed playing with medical trash, he added.

The laboratory’s trash dumping techniques were judged to be illegal, according to the Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Office (MENRO). The lab has until February 9 to present its position paper on the event. The local administration will be obliged to penalize the laboratory or impose its closure if it fails to submit one.

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