Water Rationing, Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Practices and Social Distancing at the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Cross-Sectional Study of Melaka, Malaysia

Abstract

As an uninterrupted water supply is crucial for water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) practices, a water shortage exacerbates the propagation of communicable and often life-threatening diseases. Melaka, a water-stressed state in Malaysia, had to impose a two-month water rationing exercise amid the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020. Taking advantage of these concurrent occurrences, this study thus examines the impact of water rationing on the state’s residents’ WASH practices during that time. In particular, it seeks to examine whether there has been any shift in their WASH performance during the periods of pandemic and rationing. It also analyzes the effect of external water collection activity during rationing on the residents’ social-distancing performance. This study collects its data from 120 respondents; the data are tested using non-parametric tests and frequency analyses. The results demonstrate that most of the respondents had a significant negative perception of how the rationing affected their WASH practices during the pandemic. Yet even with the ongoing rationing, their WASH levels of performance had recorded significant growth. They also viewed external water collection activities as detrimental to their social distancing performance.