CORONAVIRUS: “How do you keep your hands clean when there’s no water”

Following the first reported case of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in sub-Saharan Africa, Save the Children is warning the disease could have a serious impact in countries with fragile health systems.

Dr Louisa Baxter, Humanitarian Health Lead at Save the Children, said:

“This disease could have a serious impact in countries with weaker health systems, where children and their families may already be dealing with high levels of malnutrition, conflict or the effects of climate crisis such as displacement and water shortages. How do you keep your hands clean when there’s no water? What happens if you quarantine a village that hasn’t got enough food, or you can’t get essential drugs in because of restrictions on trade? In other outbreaks when health services have been shut down or diverted, we’ve seen death rates rise quickly from causes that should be simple to treat.”

For more information or to arrange interviews with Save the Children’s spokespeople, please contact media@savethechildren.org.uk  or +44 (0)20 7012 6841 / +44 (0)7831 650409 (out of hours)