People are being warned to dispose of their gloves and masks properly as there has been a huge increase in illegal dumping of household waste across Dublin City.
The careless littering of masks and gloves has become a major and "challenging" issue across the capital in recent weeks.
Illegal dumping rates are up by 25% in the City Centre alone with cleaning crews having to deal with household clear-outs on the streets - one bizarre case seeing a bath dumped near Christ Church Cathedral.
The dumping of the gloves and masks is also putting an immediate threat on workers who have to properly dispose of the items which may be contaminated by the virus.
Around the capital, there has been an increase in illegal burning as well as dumping of waste while people are also said to be driving to the countryside to get rid of black bags from their cars.
Simon Brock of Dublin City Council's waste-management department has described the increase in illegal dumping as "disappointing and challenging" according to The Irish Independent and has advised people to dispose of the items in a proper manner.
The topic of masks and gloves during this pandemic has popped up on several occasions with the HSE recently warning people not to wear disposable gloves when shopping or out and about.
Professor Martin Cormican, HSE National Lead for Antibiotic Resistance & Infection Control said that if gloves have the COVID-19 virus on them it can easily be spread to a person.
Prof Cormican said: "A lot of people are using disposable gloves in everyday life. So, one of our key messages this year for hand hygiene day is that we do not recommend using gloves while doing your shopping or when you are out and about.
“If there are bugs on your gloves those bugs often end up on your hands when you take the gloves off and from there they can very easily end up in your mouth, nose and eyes.
“It’s much better to clean your hands regularly and properly.
"Even in special settings such as hospitals where gloves are valuable there is still a need to perform hand hygiene when the gloves come off.
“In hospitals, gloves are single use for single patient care tasks.”
