COVID-19 and water

The 2019 coronavirus disease, called COVID-19, is caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Since it was first identified in China in December 2019, COVID-19 has spread to almost all countries and territories and caused over 310,000 deaths, as on May 16, 2020. The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are now seen in almost every sector of our society. In this article, I discuss the impacts of COVID-19 on the water sector. I point out that our efforts to control the spread of COVID-19 will increase the water demand and worsen the water quality, leading to additional challenges in water planning and management. In view of the impacts of COVID-19 and other global-scale phenomena influencing water resources (e.g., global climate change), I highlight the urgent need for interdisciplinary collaborations among researchers studying water and new strategies to address water issues.

Automated summary

The impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are widespread, affecting the water sector by increasing demand and worsening quality. New interdisciplinary collaborations and strategies are urgently needed to address these challenges and other global-scale phenomena influencing water resources.