Hand washing, COVID-19 and only 10% of sinks working
Bathroom sinks – crucial house function in a COVID-19 world.
The WHO identified handwashing early in the COVID-19 pandemic as crucial to helping stop the spread of the Coronavirus infection. As COVID-19 takes hold across the world, HH takes a closer look at one region in the US, and how hard it is to heed public health advice to wash your hands regularly when you don’t have a working sink.
HH uses a simple test that checks the taps, spout, water flow and drainage to gauge if a house has a functioning bathroom sink.
The WHO identified handwashing early in the COVID-19 pandemic as crucial to helping stop the spread of the Coronavirus infection. As COVID-19 takes hold across the world, HH takes a closer look at one region in the US, and how hard it is to heed public health advice to wash your hands regularly when you don’t have a working sink.
HH have run two Housing for Health projects in the US, the first in Kings County New York, and the second in the Navajo Nation, New Mexico. According to data from the Johns Hopkins University, both regions are reporting amongst the highest rates of COVID-19 infection per population in the US; 1.8% of the population in Kings, and 1.9% in the Navajo Nation. These are devastating statistics, well above other hotspots around the world, such as Spain with 0.47% of its population infected, Italy 0.35% and the UK 0.29%.
One of the very early recommendations from health experts around the world to help limit the spread of the infection was for people to wash their hands. According to the US Health Department; “Handwashing is one of the best ways to protect yourself and your family from getting sick. Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; going to the bathroom; and before eating or preparing food.”
Important advice, but how do you do this if you live on a Navajo reservation, with one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the US, and you don’t have access to a working bathroom sink or hand basin? With access to alcohol-based hand sanitiser extremely difficult, washing with soap and water is the only choice available. Yet data from the recent Community Plumbing Challenge Housing for Health project in the Navajo Nation found that only 10% of houses had a working bathroom sink or hand basin. Only 40% of houses had cold water flowing from the sink, or any outlet.
Healthabitat data reveals only 10% of houses had a working bathroom sink. A critical piece of health hardware living in a COVID-19 world
