Institutional house keeping management - a review of solid medical bio waste management strategies adapted by hospitals across the globe during COVID-19 pandemic

Housekeeping management encompasses the practice of maintaining a hygienic environment. Though it is an activity pertaining to the hospitality industry, the services are not only confined within hotels. Institutional house-keeping management looks at a broader perspective of how these operations are carried out beyond hotels. The outbreak of pandemic created a great challenge in the housekeeping management practices of the healthcare sector. The management of solid bio waste was a huge challenge to several organisations. Various safety measures were implemented by several countries to combat this issue. In order to manage the bio medical waste, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had set guidelines, which aimed towards increasing the recyclability of materials. In this paper a review of 107 papers has been done to understand the global perspective on the strategies adopted for managing the solid medical waste during COVID-19 pandemic. PRISMA approach has been used for conducting the review. The diverse approaches used in different stages of medical waste management, which includes storage, collection, transportation and disposal discussed in various papers have been analysed and the findings have been highlighted.