Chatham-Kent is reopening municipal pools, organized activities for children and day camps.
Dr. David Colby, Medical Officer of Health for the municipality has officially rescinded the closure orders.
Day camps, organized activities for children and youth and municipal pools may now resume operations, on the condition that they operate under the guidance of the Province of Ontario and CK Public Health.
In a released statement, CK Public Health says they are grateful to Chatham-Kent for assisting in slowing the spread of COVID-19 within the community.
“The low number of active cases in our community have made it possible for municipal pools and day camps to open,” reads the statement. “Please continue to follow public health advice to keep COVID-19 controlled in our community: physically distance (2 metres) from others, wear a mask in indoor public spaces, stay home if you are unwell, and wash your hands or use 70% alcohol hand sanitizer frequently.”
The Municipality says they will begin a progressive reopening of Chatham-Kent’s municipal indoor pools, adding that the CKRecreation team has been working diligently over the past several weeks to prepare for the re-opening.
The CKRecreation team will welcome community members back to Gable Rees Rotary pool on a minimal basis first, followed by the Wallaceburg Sydenham District Pool later this fall. Re-opening day for Gable Rees Rotary pool is anticipated to be early next week. At that time, more information will be made available.
“The team has been working closely with CK Public Health to reopen the pools efficiently and safely,” says Ann Robinson, Manager of Recreation and Community Engagement Services. “This included a full inspection of the pool by a public health inspector and education to train staff on proper sanitization, health screening of swimmers and how to navigate the facilities during these times.”
Aquatics programming will be a modified schedule with reduced capacity, in accordance with Public Health and Lifesaving Society recommendations. Programming will begin with lane swims and adult/seniors swims only, to be followed by other programming once safety processes and procedures have been fully tested and evaluated.
Since the Program Registration system has changed, old user accounts are no longer valid. Customers who wish to attend program times are asked to set up a new user account, then pre-register, as follows:
– Go online chatham-kent.ca/recreation or phone 519.360.1998 to setup a new user account
– Pre-register for all programs 7 days prior to the desired program
– Programs will be 45 minutes in duration
On arrival at the Gable Rees Rotary pool facility, on-site pool ambassadors will guide swimmers through the process of entering the facility, screening, sanitizing, checking in, payment and use of the change rooms and pool.
In order to make the transition as smooth as possible, for the interim, swimmers will only be charged $2.00 per person for every program time.
For more detailed information, please call 519.360.1998 or visit www.chatham-kent.ca/recreation
