The role of sanitation in controlling and spread of the COVID 19 pandemic

Er. Sanjog Kumar Chaudhary

ME/MS Sanitation Technology
Kathmandu University, Nepal

Coronavirus is a large family of virus which cause illness ranging from the common cold to more
several diseases. The spread of the virus is closely related to water and sanitation. Sanitation is a
significant vehicle for indirect environmental change impacts on health. Frequent and legitimate
hand hygiene is one of the foremost vital measures that can be used to avoid contamination with
the COVID-19 virus. WASH practitioners ought to work to empower more frequent and regular
hand hygiene by improving facilities and conduct behavior change techniques. Out of various
sanitation requirement the most essentials ones for the prevention are, to manage faecal sludge,
frequent hand hygiene, regular cleaning and safe drinking water are essential. This article
discusses the role of sanitation in controlling and spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
COVID-19 pandemic caused by a coronavirus called SARS-COV-2. According to WHO this
virus was first detected on 31 December 2019 from Wuhan-PRC- the Peoples Republic of China
and it spread in few months all over the world, with over 21.5 million people infected and around
768,000 death to date(Han & He, 2021). Globally, as of 5:31 PM, 16 June, there have been
176,303,596 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,820,026 deaths, reported to WHO. The
infection, which took between species jump to people most likely from bats through another
traditional creature have causes an extreme respiratory condition portrayed by a tough individual
to individual infectiousness through the aeronautical course. Sewage and human feces are
perceived as likely courses for communication with human microorganisms. Incessant hand
washing, social distance, and partial or total lockdowns are among the set-up of measures
endorsed by the World Health Organization (WHO) is being implemented across the necessities
of life are bound to disregard the preventive measures and accordingly increment the danger of
disease or help the spread of COVID 19. The spread of the COVID 19 virus is closely related to
water and sanitation. The health results emerging from environmental impacts on sanitation
system incorporate expanded risk of sickness from openness to pathogens and risky substance
through natural pollution and. Poor and vulnerable gatherings without access to good quality
medical care and crucial public administrations experience covering structures(WHO, 2018).
Three potential systems represent COVID 19 fecal-oral transmission and aquaculture, and
vector-mediated transmission from fecal sources to food varieties, especially those from open
business sectors and road distributing(Gwenzi, 2021). According to SDG target 6.2, sanitation is
tracked at the global level through an indicator of the proportion of the population using safely
managed sanitation services. Sanitation is a part of disease control like the COVID 19 pandemic
and also the control of infection. Safe drinking water, sanitation, hygiene facility, and good
Waste management practices serve as barriers to human transmission of the COVID-19
virus(Hutton & Chase, 2020).
 Sanitation
Barrier
Clean Water

Wash hand

COVID-19 Human

Cleaning Surfaces

Biomedical
Waste
Hygiene
Barrier

Management
Fig1: WASH intervention to prevent COVID-19 transmission, Source: (Donde et al., 2021)
COVID-19 virus can be detected in drinking water also(WHO, 2020). So it is necessary for all of
us to have treated drinking water for our daily use. Drinking clean and treated drinking water
helps in the risk of COVID-19 disease. Also along with clean water, basic hand hygiene is
essential requirement washing hand with soap and water help in destroying the germs. Hand as a
medium of transmission of COVID-19 contacts the surface of objects contaminated with SARS
COV-2 then touches the mouth, eyes, and nose. The WHO suggests washing hands with soap
and running water to prevent COVID-19 because washing hands not only prevents COVID -19
as well as other diseases such as diarrhea. Handwashing is one of the vital public health
measures. It helps to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic(Sayeed et al., 2021).
Cleaning hands with soap and water or an alcohol-based hand rub should be performed
according to, if hands are not visibility dirty, the preferred method is to perform hand hygiene
with an alcohol-based hand rub for 20-30 seconds using appropriate technique. Along with
Cleaning Surfaces is essential for COVID-19, clean surface with a detergent and water before
applying a disinfectant. The concentration and exposure time of any disinfectant are critical
parameters for its efficacy. And all the biomedical equipment used during the treatment of the
COVID-19 patients or inside the hospital should be disposed properly if it is not done so there is
the risk of high contamination. So this barrier can be controlled by effective safe disposal of this
equipment.
WHO guidance on the safe management of drinking water and sanitation services applies to the
COVID-19 outbreak. Many co-benefits will be realized by safely managing water and sanitation
services and applying good hygiene practices(WHO, 2020). Sanitation and hygiene are basic for
the protection of human wellbeing during COVID outbreak wastewater contain a virus,
microbes, and parasites, and inadequate treatment of wastewater and fecal sludge plays a role in
 Dist ribut io n o f po pula t io n wit ho ut ba sic hy g iene f a cilit ies a t ho me, Cent ra l a nd So ut hern
Asia , 2 0 1 7

Distribution of population without basic hygiene facilities at home, Central and Southern Asia, 2017

Rest of the region Rest of the region; 41

Nepal Nepal ; 15

Afghanistan Afghanistan; 22

Pakisthan Pakisthan; 80

Bangladesh Bangladesh; 107

India India; 542

0 100 200 300 400 500 600

All data are in Million

spreading disease(Street et al., 2020). Water, sanitation, and hygiene are essential to the world,
but also WASH condition is in Southern Asia is as:

Fig2: Distribution of population without basic hygiene facilities, Source:(Byjus.com, 2017)

Over 807 million people still do not have basic hygiene facilities at home in central and southern
Asia. As we can see that more people in India lack of basic hygiene facilities at home. Recently
COVID-19 has also made an outbreak in India with a huge number of infected people which can
be related to the lack of a basic hygiene system. Because of lack of hygiene facilities, there is no
medium to cut of barrier to spread of COVID-19 as a result large number of people is infected
rapidly. In other South Asian countries, we can see comparatively less infection rate because
only less number of people have no access to basic hygiene facilities, as a result, there is a barrier
to the spread of COVID-19. Inadequate condition of drinking water and sanitation facilities and
inappropriate hygiene practices among people so, it is to spread COVID-19 pandemic. And also
poor conditions of drinking water and sanitation services in health care facilities and
inappropriate hygiene practices among health personnel and patients reduce the quality of
healthcare and represent coronavirus spread rate. We can say that with appropriate precaution
and provision of basic hygiene facilities we can control COVID-19.
Basic water, sanitation, and medical waste management in health care facilities are essential for
safe and quality care. It is difficult to prevent the coronavirus without WASH facilities. We
should focus on the use of clean water, improvement of hand hygiene, good waste management
in hospitals and households.
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