Priti Parikh 1 , * , Yasmin Bou Karim 2 , Jacob Paulose 3 , Pam Factor-Litvak 4 , Emily Nix 3 , Dewi Nur Aisyah 5 , Hemant Chaturvedi 2 , Logan Manikam 2 , 6 , Monica Lakhanpaul 7
07 September 2020
2020
COVID-19, WASH, informal settlements, India, Indonesia, infection pathways, water, the environment, policy and law
Informal settlements are home to over 1 billion people worldwide and are characterised by high population densities and poor environmental conditions. The authors identify the impact of COVID-19 on existing water and sanitation practices and potential pathways for the transmission of COVID-19 in informal settlements in India and Indonesia. In the short term, there is an urgent need for mobile and contactless hand washing, washing/bathing facilities and toilets. In the long term, COVID-19 provides an opportunity to invest in centralised water and sanitation networked solutions appropriate for high-density settings to integrate those settlements into cities and improve environmental conditions and health in these cities.
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