Newly revised stay-at-home orders have been extended to mid-May. Golf courses remain closed, athletic fields are off limits across Ontario, and kids are back at home, learning virtually for now.
But what about summer sports?
Chatham-Kent’s Medical Officer of Health says it’s still far too early to tell whether or not kids will be able to play baseball, soccer, or other team sports.
“That’s going to be looked at on a provincial level with regard to how well we do getting the wave attenuated and decreased. The more we learn about this virus, the more we realize the importance of physical distancing.”
Dr. David Colby says it all comes down to the ability to properly distanced from one another.
“Indoor gatherings, whether that’s related to sports events, either by the players or the audience members, is very very dangerous type of phenomenon. Outdoor sports are much less dangerous, and are certainly encouraged with regard to keeping fit and well.”
Dr. Colby says sports, by their very nature, involve some degree of contact between players. He says really it’s just too early to speculate on what will happen a month or two down the road.
Even from a municipal standpoint, Chatham-Kent CAO Don Shropshire says it’s all about safety.
“We’re trying to make sure when we’re renting municipal space or encouraging people to come back and take part in sporting activities, that they’re doing that in a manner which is consistent with the health authority’s directions,” Shropshire says. “We see things change rapidly over time, trying to predict what’s going to happen over the course of the summer is going to be pretty tough to do, but if we can get kids back out playing and doing sports, and they can do that in a safe way, that’s great.”
