‘WASH, waste management essential barrier to COVID-19'

By Burak Bir

ANKARA (AA) - The World Bank Water on Thursday said that water, sanitization and hygiene (WASH), and waste management practices play a crucial role to prevent human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus.

"Ensuring good and consistently applied #WASH and waste management practices is one of the essential barriers to human-to-human transmission of #COVID19 in communities, homes, health care facilities, schools, and other public spaces, " the group said on Twitter.

Noting that 2.4 million people live with poor sanitation and hygiene, it said only 20% of the world's population properly wash their hands.

Poor sanitation and hygiene costs countries $260 billion annually, the group added.

After first appearing in Wuhan, China, last December, the novel coronavirus has spread to at least 175 countries and territories, according to data compiled by the U.S.-based Johns Hopkins University.

The data shows more than 487,600 cases have been reported worldwide since last December, with the death toll above 22,000 and nearly 118,000 successful recoveries.