1 . With people wearing face masks to protect themselves from being infected with the novel coronavirus, a concern now is how they are dealing with their used masks. As used face masks may carry the coronavirus, they shouldn't be carelessly thrown away as waste. Since the virus can survive for one or two days in wet conditions, the used masks may become a new source of infection.
Given that the garbage sorting has recently been carried out in only a few cities, mixed waste commonly exists. The mixture of polluted masks and recyclable waste may cause a possible danger to rubbish collectors when they put hands in the garbage cans to collect recyclable items. What's worse, if someone just throws a used mask on the street, someone might pick it up, or try to collect it to sell second-hand.
With the spread of the novel coronavirus, there has obviously been a high demand for protective equipment such as face masks among ordinary people, with the resulting generation of a huge quantity of what may be considered medical waste. Thus, the problem is how to deal with this mass of medical waste, particularly the used face masks outside of hospitals. Communities should have special trash cans around to collect used masks. If these are not provided, people should put the waste into plastic bags before casting them aside, so they are not exposed to the air.
As the main risk of medical waste is infectivity, disinfection, whether by steam, chemicals or microwave, is very important. According to regulations, only licensed companies should collect, transport and do the final management of medical waste. For example, medical waste must be collected in special containers,and be transported in special vehicles by qualified people.
1. What problem is described in paragraph 1?| A．Used masks may cause infection. | B．Used masks are difficult to recycle. |
| C．The virus spreads quickly in wet conditions. | D．The novel coronavirus infection is worsening. |
| A．The causes of sorting garbage. | B．The ways of recycling used masks. |
| C．The harm of using second-hand masks. | D．The risk of handling used masks improperly. |
| A．Destroying rubbish. | B．Throwing waste. | C．Marking rubbish. | D．Reusing waste. |
| A．It costs a lot to collect and transport medical waste. |
| B．The hospital infection is mainly from medical waste. |
| C．The rules of dealing with medical waste are very strict. |
| D．License companies should be responsible for infection. |
