PCR tests: China faces a mountain of medical waste

Every day in China, officers in full suits insert hundreds of millions of disposable swabs down throats for large-scale PCR testing.

Problem: these operations generate a huge amount of medical waste.

With its zero Covid strategy, the Asian giant is the last major economy to want to prevent any infection at all costs, officially to avoid overwhelming its hospitals in the face of the low vaccination rate of seniors.

To discover

• Find all the results of the legislative elections

• Taxes 2022: all about your tax return

Read alsoCovid in China: household consumption falls again

In its anti-coronavirus arsenal: mandatory quarantines, localized confinements and therefore massive screenings, which have become almost daily in certain places.

From Beijing to Shanghai, via Shenzhen, the “

” home to many technology companies, cities are now dotted with small prefabs or tents offering free PCR tests.

Hundreds of millions of people are required to be tested every three or two days, or even daily.

These PCR tests, which create an immense mass of medical waste, constitute a growing economic burden for local authorities, already heavily indebted, which must devote tens of billions of euros to it.

"

," said Yifei Li, an environmental expert at New York University in Shanghai.

"

," he told AFP.

China, where the environment has suffered heavily from economic development, has tightened its legislation against air and water pollution over the past decade.

Read alsoClimate: China is resisting the climate emergency

Multiplied by six

The country is also aiming for carbon neutrality by 2060, an ambitious and extremely uncertain goal given the Asian giant's current dependence on coal.

The generalization of PCR tests poses a new environmental challenge.

For a few dozen positive cases detected each day in China, it will have been necessary to screen hundreds of millions of people and to use an enormous mass of tubes, swabs, packaging and combinations.

If not disposed of properly, this medical waste can contaminate soil and waterways.

According to an AFP count, Chinese cities and provinces where a total of 600 million people live have announced one form or another of general and regular screening of their population.

No national data is available, but authorities in Shanghai said last month that 68,500 tonnes of medical waste was generated during the city's lockdown between mid-March and early June.

This represents a daily amount six times higher than normal.

Under Chinese regulations, authorities are responsible for sorting, disinfecting, transporting and storing such waste before disposing of it – usually by incineration.

"

" Yanzhong Huang, public health specialist at the Council on Foreign Relations, told AFP. American think tank.

Read alsoDeconfinement: pollution back in the skies of China

“ Ineffective and expensive

”

tests

Some local authorities may not know how to deal with this large amount of waste, or simply store it in landfills, said Benjamin Steuer of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

Questioned by AFP, the Ministry of Health indicated that it had formulated "

" relating to Covid-19.

The government is requiring provincial capitals and cities of at least 10 million people to set up testing sites within a 15-minute walk of each resident.

But expanding regular, mandatory screening across China could cost 0.9% to 2.3% of the country's GDP, analysts at Nomura Bank estimated last month.

For Jin Dong-yan, a professor at the University of Hong Kong's School of Biomedical Sciences, these widespread PCR tests are "

" and force local communities to give up other useful investments in the health sector. health.

Authorities also risk missing out on positive cases because the Omicron variant spreads faster and is harder to detect, he said.

"

," he said.

“

»