Upon inspection, many commercial coronavirus test locations in the Netherlands have been found to be incorrectly disposing of potentially contaminated waste.

This concerns the disposal of swabs and protective clothing, RTL Nieuws reports. These items should be placed in allocated drums or plastic bags, but many test centres have been found to be disposing of these items as industrial waste.

The report, carried out by the Human Environment and Transport Inspectorate (ILT), found that this is a common problem in GGD centres. During inspections carried out in December, ILT found 22 out of 39 test sites were not correctly disposing of waste.

Waste in the front seat

When inspected, seven test centres were found to be breaking regulations when packaging and transporting swabs. Absorption material was often missing between packages.

The ILT also found one instance where a sealed bag of sample material was being transported in the front seat of a car.

No test centres will shut

Upon inspection, the ILT discovered a number of major and minor violations. However, due to the necessity of coronavirus testing, no centres will be shut down after discovering these violations. Instead, test centres have been told to resolve these issues immediately.

Are you surprised by these findings? Let us know in the comments below!

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