MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Masks and gloves are designed to shield from COVID-19 during the ongoing pandemic.
But those protective items become a health hazard when people throw them on the ground after use.
“We all learned in elementary school not to litter, and now we have litter that’s potentially infectious,” said Dr. Jeff Warren, a Memphis City Council member who’s on the Shelby County COVID-19 Task Force. “The risk is that it’s just more germs. It’s very bad to see all this.”
Those hazards increase especially in places like grocery store parking lots, where employees eventually have to clean it up.
“And those are the people we don’t want to get infected because they’re the ones stocking our food,” Warren said. “So they’re infected now. It’s on the food. You get the food and go home with it, and now you’re infected.”
That’s a risk some stores have been able to minimize.
For example, at Cash Saver on Madison Avenue, employees never have to touch any gloves or masks on the ground. The store has a system in place to avoid all that. It’s a collection machine employees can drive.
“[The employee] just runs over and drags like a lawnmower, but it’s a vacuum, and it picks them up,” employee Willie Fuller said. “I mean, that helps us. We don’t want anybody getting contaminated.”
Health officials want people to get rid of gloves and masks responsibly.
“Put them in a plastic bag and throw them away when you get home,” Warren said.
Warren also suggested to hold onto masks as long as possible, particularly if you’re having trouble finding them in stores. You can clean a mask by using products like rubbing alcohol or Lysol.
