What it takes to save lives: An assessment of water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities in temporary COVID-19 isolation and treatment centers of Southern Ethiopia: A mixed-methods evaluation

Abstract

Background Quality water, sanitation, and hygiene facilities act as barricades to the transmission of COVID-19 in health care facilities. These facilities ought to also be available, accessible, and functional in temporary treatment centers. Despite numerous studies on health care facilities, however, there is limited information on the status of WASH facilities in such centers. Methods The assessment of health care facilities for the COVID-19 response checklist and key informant interviews, were used for data collection. 35 treatment centers in Southern Ethiopia were surveyed. Eightkey informants were interviewed to gain an understanding of the WASH conditions in the treatment centers. The Quantitative data was entered using EPI-INFO 7 and exported to SPSS 20 for analysis. Results are presented using descriptive statistics. Open Code 4.02 was used for the thematic analysis of the qualitative data. Results Daily water supply interruptions occurred at 27 (77.1%) of the surveyed sites. Only 30 (85.72%) had bathrooms that were segregated for personnel and patients, and only 3 (3.57%) had toilets that were handicapped accessible. 20(57.2%) of the treatment centers did not have a hand hygiene protocol that satisfied WHO guidelines. In terms of infection prevention and control, 16 (45.71%) of the facilities lacked adequate personal protective equipment stocks. Between urban and rural areas, there was also a significant difference in latrine maintenance, hand hygiene protocol design and implementation, and incineration capacity. Conclusion The results reveal crucial deficiencies in the provision of WASH in the temporary COVID-19 treatment centers. Efforts to improve WASH should offer priority to hygiene service interventions to minimize the risk of healthcare-acquired infections. The sustainable provision of hygiene services, such as hand washing soap, should also be given priority.

Access to and challenges in water, sanitation, and hygiene in healthcare facilities during the early phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ethiopia: A mixed-methods evaluation

“…WHO recommends people with suspected or confirmed SARS-CoV-2 should be provided a separate toilet, and if not possible, certain toilets should be designated as solely for the shared use of COVID-19 patients and not used by non-COVID-19 patients [20]. In this study, 56% of the HCFs had separate toilets for males and females, which was lower than the study finding in Ethiopia 94.3% [44]. This finding also revealed that 7.1% of HCFs had low cleanliness of the latrine, which may be associated with the absence of a functional lock on the latrine door and lack of lighting, frequency of cleaning, and the behavior of clients in utilizing of latrines.…”

“…According to the WHO standard, functional hand hygiene facilities should be available at all critical points of the HCFs [7]. Less than a quarter (21.4%) of the HCFs had functional handwashing facilities (with water and soap) both in latrines and at point of care, which was lower than the studies conducted in Africa (28%) [41], Zimbabwe (30%) (26), LMICs [12], sub-Saharan Africa (67%) [8], Rwanda (32%) [40], Nigeria (66%), Rwanda (65%), Zimbabwe (58%) [7] and Ethiopia (74.28%) [44] but higher than Niger (4%) [7].…”

A Qualitative Evaluation of COVID-19 Preventative Response Activities in South Kivu, Democratic Republic of the Congo

“…Inadequate access to PPE (e.g., hygiene materials) and lack of WASH infrastructure (e.g. running water for handwashing) presented major barriers to preventative behaviors in healthcare facilities and in the community [ 13 , 16 , 22 ]. Community participants mentioned that the handwashing stations in public places often lacked water and cleansing agents.…”

“…In Zimbabwe and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), common barriers to compliance with preventative measures included living and working in crowded areas, local understandings of COVID-19, and misinformation through social media [ 15 , 16 ]. Previous studies in the sub-Saharan Africa region have recommended tailoring health communication to the local context [ 17 , 18 , 19 ], prioritizing trust-building between communities and the Ministries of Health (MoH) [ 20 , 21 ], and ensuring adequate provision of hygiene and PPE materials for effective COVID-19 response programs [ 15 , 22 ].…”

Influence of Macroeconomics Factors, Profitability, and Stock Trading Volume on Stock Prices in The Years 2019-2021

“…The Covid-19 pandemic, which began in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, has had an impact on the economy. In this context, it is recorded that about 82.85% of businesses in Indonesia experienced a decrease in revenue during the pandemic [1]. This decrease in revenue occurred because many companies were forced to temporarily halt their business operations, and the decline in consumer demand also had an impact [2].…”