Jilin province boosts COVID waste disposal capacity

To fight the recent COVID-19 outbreak, Jilin province is promoting its capacity to dispose of hazardous waste, including medical waste and waste related to the epidemic, officials said on Thursday.

"As of Wednesday, 10 emergency disposal facilities have been opened across the province," Cai Baofeng, deputy director of the provincial Ecology and Environment Department, said at a Thursday news conference. "The daily capacity for hazardous waste in the province has reached 636 metric tons, 520 tons more than before the recent outbreak."

Jilin reported 742 new locally transmitted COVID-19 cases and 415 asymptomatic carriers on Wednesday, the provincial Health Commission said on Wednesday.

Of the confirmed cases, 268 were found in Changchun, 455 in Jilin city, 11 in Siping, six in Yanbian Korean autonomous prefecture and two in Songyuan.

Of the asymptomatic carriers, 400 were identified in Jilin city, five in Changchun, six in Yanbian and four in Siping.

"Around 95 percent of the infections found in the recent outbreak are asymptomatic carriers or patients with mild symptoms," said Yang Junling, deputy chief physician in the respiratory and critical care medicine department of Jilin University Second Hospital. "Most of them are getting better after medical treatment."

"Most of the patients in severe condition have complications resulting from underlying conditions," she said, noting that those conditions are treated as well.

"Few patients with mild symptoms get worse," she added.