Basic

Water shortages limit hand washing | Weekly update

Posted by: The Conversation Global

Date: Thursday, 02 April 2020

 

Editor's note

You're advised to wash your hands often and thoroughly to help prevent the spread of COVID-19, but more than two billion people live without reliable access to clean water. Experts worry the risk of infection could multiply in communities that lack sanitation and hand washing facilities, but even where these systems exist, the global pandemic could cause widespread shortages. In Jordan, hand washing is thought to have caused a 40% spike in water demand since the start of the nationwide curfew. Raya A. Al-Masri explains how COVID-19 could exacerbate water poverty, and outlines the kind of collective action that's urgently needed to solve both crises.  

Experts from around the world continue to explore different aspects of the COVID-19 across all our sites. Here's our weekly update containing just some of the articles touching on varying elements of this complex global outbreak.

Jack Marley

Commissioning Editor, Environment + Energy

Top Stories

Releon8211/Shutterstock

Coronavirus: what might more hand washing mean in countries with water shortages?

Raya A. Al-Masri, University of Surrey

More than two billion people live without reliable access to clean water.

Paris, emptied. Ian Langsdon/EPA

Coronavirus weekly: as the world stays at home, where is the pandemic heading?

Lionel Cavicchioli, The Conversation

Since the pandemic began, the new coronavirus has infected more than 780,000 people and killed at least 37,000. The experts at The Conversation offer its readers insights from every continent.

COVID-19

‘How will we eat’? India’s coronavirus lockdown threatens millions with severe hardship

Craig Jeffrey, University of Melbourne; Febe De Geest, University of Melbourne; Jane Dyson, University of Melbourne

The government has announced direct cash transfers to poorer households, but major challenges remain in providing for the 500 million employed in the informal economy.

Nigeria relies heavily on drug imports. Why this is worrying in the time of COVID-19

Wuraola Akande-Sholabi, University of Ibadan

Nigeria's reliance on drug importation is worrisome as COVID-19 pandemic rages.

Europe and African relations post COVID-19: time to add size, scale and speed

Carlos Lopes, University of Cape Town

As Africa prepares to face a perfect storm, it's time for Europe's approach towards Africa to show its teeth.

Coronavirus: Europeans introduced devastating novel diseases to the Indigenous Americas – here’s what the survivors learned

Felice S. Wyndham, University of Oxford

When colonisers invaded the Americas, they brought with them waves of new diseases. This legacy continues to impact Indigenous communities.

Science and Technology

New discovery: penguins vocalise under water when they hunt

Andréa Thiebault, Nelson Mandela University; Isabelle Charrier, Université Paris-Saclay; Pierre Pistorius, Nelson Mandela University; Thierry Aubin, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

This study provides the first evidence that penguins emit sounds underwater when they hunt.

Fossil track sites tell the story of ancient crocodiles at the Cape

Charles Helm, Nelson Mandela University

While crocodylian fossil swim traces have been described from other continents, to the best of our knowledge the examples we describe are the first such reptilian swim traces from Africa.

How we discovered the conditions behind 'slow earthquakes’ that happen over weeks or even months – new research

Åke Fagereng, Cardiff University

Earthquakes happen over seconds to minutes. Slow slip events on the other hand can last for weeks or months.

Hot curries, potato cheddar and muddy beetroot – some super surprising facts about your food

Joanna Buckley, University of Sheffield

Three foods and some cool stuff you should know about them.

En Français

La Turquie et ses voisins face à l’épidémie

Adrian Foucher, Université de Tours; Théotime Chabre, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU)

L’épidémie affecte fortement la Turquie, qui a engagé des dépenses colossales pour soutenir ses entreprises, et menace les zones voisines comme le nord de la Syrie, Chypre et les îles grecques.

Israël : vers un roulement au pouvoir

Frédéric Encel, PSB Paris School of Business – UGEI

Après trois législatives en moins d’un an, Israël semblait s’acheminer vers un quatrième scrutin anticipé, mais Benyamin Nétanyahou et son rival Benny Gantz ont fini par trouver une solution.

En español

El virus también ataca a la democracia

Sonsoles Arias Guedón, IE University

El COVID-19 está afectando todo lo que se pone a su paso: desde nuestra salud, hasta las estructuras económico-sociales de nuestras regiones, llegando a poner en duda también los principios más elementales de nuestras democracias

Así funcionan los antivirales más prometedores frente a COVID-19

Vicente Soriano, UNIR - Universidad Internacional de La Rioja

Aunque por el momento no hay antivirales aprobados frente al nuevo coronavirus, algunos fármacos son bastante prometedores. La joya de la corona de momento es el remdesivir.

 
 
 
 
 
 

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