ABSTRACT
The geographical occurrence and diffusion of the current COVID-19 pandemic is partly a function of the awareness, socio-economic dynamics, mobility, and health management practices in place. In Nigeria, the first confirmed case of the COVID-19 pandemic was proclaimed on February 27, 2020, in which an Italian citizen was tested positive for the virus in Lagos. Ossiomo watershed in Edo State, Nigeria, is mainly a rural region with limited healthcare access and abundant rains and surface water flowing in different drainage networks. The highly contagious and pathogenic COVID-19 disease, requires effective management of available water resources for sustainable health development. This is because one of the recommendations for preventing COVID-19 is washing hands with soap using running water. In most rural Africa, including Ossiomo, healthcare facilities are inadequate and no sustainable pipe-borne water except rain harvesting for survival. Using Inverse Distance Weighted (IDW) Geographic Information System (GIS) interpolation technique, the rainfall map produced (derived from a 31-year collated geo-coded hydrometeorological data - rainfall and discharge, covering the Ossiomo watershed) shows that rainfall decreases northward with minimum monthly precipitation of 18.8mm in January and to the south with a mean maximum rainfall of 339.0mm in July. NCDC records on Covid-19 were used to create Choropleth maps that revealed very low confirmed cases and relatively moderate-high deaths, though considered relatively low when compared to global statistics. The Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficient (PPMCC) further indicates a strong correlation between rainfall and drainage discharge with r=0.717. With sustainable socio-economic activities and adequate water supply, coupled with effective COVID-19 management practices, the pandemic may not linger in the study area.