Two out of five people in the world do not have a hand washing facility with soap and water on premises. Almost half of the schools in the world do not have handwashing facilities with soap and water available to students. We do not know the proportion of health care facilities in the world that have functional hand hygiene facilities with soap and water or hand sanitizer.
▪ Frequent and proper hand hygiene is one of the most important measures that can be used to prevent infection with the COVID-19 virus
▪ There are two main routes of transmission of the COVID-19 virus: respiratory and poor hygiene
▪ The COVID-19 virus has not been detected in drinking-water supplies, and based on current evidence, the risk to water supplies is low
▪ Currently, there is no evidence about the survival of the COVID-19 virus in drinking-water or sewage
▪ Conventional, centralized water treatment methods that use filtration and disinfection should inactivate the COVID-19 virus
Source: Water, sanitation, hygiene, and waste management for the COVID-19 virus – Interim Guidance 23 April 2020, WHO and UNICEF
