COVID-19 pandemic: Water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as a critical control measure remains a major challenge in low-income countries.

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) is responsible for the deadly respiratory disease called coronavirus disease of 2019 (COVID-19), an ongoing global public health emergency that has been declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization. We review literature on the transmission and control of SARS-CoV-2 and discuss the challenges of focusing on water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) as critical control measures in low-income countries. A significantly higher prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 related deaths has been reported for the United States of America and other high-income countries in Europe and Asia, regardless of advanced medical facilities in those countries.

Water quality guidelines for chemicals: learning lessons to deliver meaningful environmental metrics.

Many jurisdictions around the globe have well-developed regulatory frameworks for the derivation and implementation of water quality guidelines (WQGs) or their equivalent (e.g. environmental quality standards, criteria, objectives or limits).