Gondo Reniko, Kolawole Oluwatoyin D
Okavango Research Institute, University of Botswana, Bag, 285, Maun, Ngamiland, Botswana.
Sci Afr. 2022 Jul;16:e01145. doi: 10.1016/j.sciaf.2022.e01145. Epub 2022 Mar 8.
Water is a crucial resource in the fight against coronavirus disease (COVID-19), which was first discovered in late 2019 in Wuhan, China, and which has since become a pandemic. Thus, clean water unavailability constitutes a risk to people's wellbeing as the chances of contracting the disease is high without it. The World Health Organisation (WHO) prescribed hygiene as a critical measure to control the spread of this highly transmissible disease. As frequent washing of hands and observing general rules of hygiene could mitigate the spread of the disease, access to clean and adequate water supply is one of the fundamental ways of stopping the pandemic. There has, therefore, been a high demand for water across the world in a bid to address the problem. Specifically, the general lockdown and the need to frequently wash hands coupled with the obsolete water infrastructure in Zimbabwe have worsened water access problems for the citizenry. This study, therefore, assessed water access in Karoi town in Zimbabwe. Adopting a household water access conceptual framework, the study investigated six residential areas where a sample of 150 household heads were randomly selected and interviewed. Data on water access were obtained from the respondents using interview schedules. In-depth information on the subject was also obtained from four key informants working at Karoi Town Council (KTC) and Zimbabwe Water Authority (ZINWA). The results showed that households had knowledge on the importance of water availability and hygiene in relation to COVID-19 prevention, leading to an intensified high demand for water and consequently water shortage in the area. The study recommends that KTC and ZINWA need to improve on its water infrastructure and enhance the subsidization of improved water access during the COVID-19 and post-COVID-19 pandemic.
水是抗击冠状病毒病（COVID-19）的关键资源，该病于2019年末在中国武汉首次发现，此后成为大流行病。因此，无法获得清洁水对人们的福祉构成风险，因为没有清洁水，感染该疾病的几率很高。世界卫生组织（WHO）规定卫生是控制这种高传播性疾病传播的关键措施。由于经常洗手和遵守一般卫生规则可以减轻疾病的传播，获得清洁和充足的供水是阻止大流行的基本方法之一。因此，为了解决这个问题，全球对水的需求一直很高。具体而言，全面封锁以及频繁洗手的需求，再加上津巴布韦过时的供水基础设施，使民众的用水问题更加恶化。因此，本研究评估了津巴布韦卡罗伊镇的用水情况。该研究采用家庭用水获取概念框架，调查了六个居民区，随机抽取150户户主作为样本并进行访谈。通过访谈问卷从受访者那里获取用水情况数据。还从卡罗伊镇议会（KTC）和津巴布韦水务局（ZINWA）工作的四名关键信息提供者那里获得了关于该主题的深入信息。结果表明，家庭了解水的可获得性和卫生在预防COVID-19方面的重要性，导致对水的需求加剧，从而造成该地区缺水。该研究建议，卡罗伊镇议会和津巴布韦水务局需要改善其供水基础设施，并在COVID-19期间和COVID-19大流行之后加强对改善用水的补贴。
