Frequent and proper hand hygiene is known to be one of the most important measures to prevent coronavirus infection.

However, in Latin America and the Caribbean an estimated 28 million people do not have access to improved water sources, 83 million lack adequate sanitation facilities and 15.6 million still defecate in the open.

This, according to data from the Joint Monitoring Program for Water Supply and Sanitation (JMP), the World Health Organization (WHO / PAHO) and the United Nations Children's Fund ( Unicef).

Therefore, "prevention through hand washing is a great challenge for the most vulnerable populations, mainly in informal settlements and rural areas", the United Nations warns in a statement.

Concepción Marcuello, from the Ministry for the Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge of Spain (MITECO), is clear that “water governance during COVID-19 is one of the fundamental pillars to ensure that water and sanitation reach all populations appropriately ”.

From iagua