As summer 2020 draws near, many parks and recreation professionals weigh the risks and benefits to re-opening their aquatics programs.
With all public facilities, care and attention must be given on how to safely re-open a much-loved amenity for so many Texas communities.
And the need grows in the Texas summer heat, with families looking for affordable fitness opportunities and fun ways to cool off. With the lure of privately-operated waterparks opening around the United States, Texas communities will surely expect their city governments to follow suit and re-open its public pools.
The Center for Disease Control has offered some guidance to assist cities, waterparks and personal property owners regarding the spread of COVID19 in swimming pools. Additionally, on May 5th, Governor Abbott gave cities the green light to re-open at 25% capacity, under each jurisdiction’s discretion.
According to the CDC website, “There is no evidence that the virus that causes COVID-19 can be spread to people through the water in pools, hot tubs, spas, or water play areas. Proper operation and maintenance (including disinfection with chlorine and bromine) of these facilities should inactive the virus in the water.”
The CDC goes further, stating that if a community is experiencing community spread of COVID-19, “… it is important for individuals as well as owners and operators of these facilities to take steps to ensure health and safety.”
But what are those steps? In a study completed by Vincenzo Romano Spica, Professor of Hygiene at the University of Rome “Foro Italico”, one of the world’s leading experts on the safety of swimming pool water, has released some guidance. And it’s not as crystal clear as the water in a swimming pool. You can read a full article of the study here.
Essentially, the study suggests that chlorine and other disinfectants typically used to decontaminate and keep pools clean for the public is not a guarantee of safety. And the reason experts are hesitant to confirm is summed up by Professor Spica: “…various disinfectants including chlorine also act on viruses and therefore also on a Coronavirus; but it is also true that this “new” virus is still little known and has already given us unwanted surprises. Therefore, in the absence of epidemiological evidence and dedicated experimental studies, it is necessary to be very cautious.”
Several outliers can affect the safety of public swimming pools. And quite possibly the same common-sense measures that parks and recreation professionals have undertaken when allowing usage of playground equipment and other public facilities should be considered. Social distancing is still a key component to keeping your communities safe – whether in a store, a park or a public swimming pool. Similarly, good hand hygiene and constant disinfection of equipment touched by the users must be part of every plan to re-open.
The study urges that if facilities plan to re-open, some additional measures should be taken:
- Adhere to the correct maintenance of the public pool,
- Have a plan for all spaces in the facility such as changing rooms
- Develop a risk assessment plan that is designed for COVID19,
- Employ social distancing and sanitization throughout the facility
- Keeping abreast with the status of cases in the community and local authorities standards
Additionally, it will be important for every park and recreation department to ensure they have the resources to procure sanitary instruments to enact life-saving measures and always refer to the American Red Cross, Ellis and Associates and other reputable organizations for guidance regarding swimming lessons in the time of COVID19.
While it may not seem that simple “yes or no” guidance is currently available in this unpredictable time, information and studies like these are the path to help cities return to that familiar summer pool time fun of our recent memories. Everything regarding this new virus is definitely hard to gauge … but with some common sense, more study and time, the community will know when it’s time to dive back in!
Resources:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/php/water.html