Entries by Circle Blue

UN Triples Covid-19 Aid Request

The United Nations is now requesting $6.7 billion to carry out its humanitarian response to the Covid-19 pandemic. “Unless we take action now, we should be prepared for a significant rise in conflict, hunger and poverty,” said Mark Lowcock, the UN coordinator for humanitarian relief. “The specter of multiple famines looms.” The funding is direly […]

Federal Lawsuit Filed Over Hygienic Conditions in Michigan Jail

A federal class-action lawsuit was filed on the behalf of seven people imprisoned at a jail in southeastern Michigan, the Detroit Free Press reports. The lawsuit says that the seven inmates at Wayne County Jail have medical conditions that require their release from unsanitary conditions in the prison that put them at risk for contracting […]

Small U.S. Water Utilities Anticipate Nearly $1 Billion Revenue Loss

Small U.S. water and wastewater utilities say that they expect to lose $998 million in revenue through mid-July due to changes in water use and billing practices brought on by the new coronavirus pandemic. The findings are from a National Rural Water Association survey of 4,636 water and wastewater utilities. NRWA represents water systems that […]

Covid-19 Shutdowns Slow Response to Tropical Cyclone Harold in Pacific Islands

The shutdown of economies and the severing of transportation links due to the global coronavirus pandemic are complicating disaster response. Sanaka Samarasinha is the UN resident coordinator for the Pacific islands. He is deeply involved in the emergency response to Tropical Cyclone Harold, which battered four Pacific island countries — Fiji, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and […]

Hygiene Professionals Build Information Hub for Coronavirus Response

Organizations working at the front lines in low- and middle-income countries need good information about the role of hygiene in preventing spread of the new coronavirus. They need to know the latest science and what practices have yielded benefits elsewhere. Occasionally, they also need an expert ear to provide technical guidance, a helpline of sorts […]

Australia Researchers Test Sewage for New Coronavirus

Following the lead of colleagues in the Netherlands and the United States, researchers in Australia are investigating the presence of SARS-CoV-2 in sewage. Because infected individuals shed the virus in their feces, raw sewage could serve as an early-warning signal for the spread of the virus in an area. Sewage sampling could also serve as […]