BEIJING -- China's medical waste disposal capacity has expanded remarkably since the start of the novel coronavirus epidemic, according to data from the Ministry of Ecology and Environment.

The country's daily disposal capacity jumped to 6,100 tonnes on April 18 from 4,902.8 tonnes before the epidemic.

A total of 280,000 tonnes of medical waste was disposed of from Jan 20 to April 18, data showed.

Hubei Province, once the center of the outbreak, has seen its daily medical disposal capacity skyrocket to 667.4 tonnes from 180 tonnes.

The current disposal capacity of Wuhan, the provincial capital, is more than five times what it was before the epidemic broke out, soaring to 265.6 tonnes per day from 50 tonnes per day.