Burlington to shut down athletic facilities tomorrow

Burlington | Halton | Ontario | Latest News |

Published October 16, 2020 at 7:36 pm

Burlington is putting the brakes on all indoor physical activities that take place in City-run facilities.

Burlington is putting the brakes on all indoor physical activities that take place in City-run facilities.

Based on recommendations by Halton Public Health, the stoppage will begin tomorrow, Saturday, Oct. 17.

Calling it a “pause,” the City will stop offering indoor fitness classes for adults including aquatic fitness.

As well, at rinks and community centres there will be no more games or scrimmages allowed, only training where proper physical distancing can be maintained.

The move comes as emerging evidence indicates cases of COVID-19 from indoor physical activity setting and contact sports are on the rise. The Town of Milton made a similar announcement this morning. No word as of yet if Oakville and Halton Hills will follow a similar plan. The intent of this pause is to slow the spread of the coronavirus and avoid going back into a modified Stage 2 status with further precautions.

“Evidence is showing that indoor fitness is a factor in the spread of COVID-19,” said Chris Glenn, Director of Recreation Services. “While we make every effort to screen our participants daily, ensure physical distancing and do thorough disinfection, it is a wise decision to pause these programs and we hope by moving quickly to make this decision, we can have a positive impact against the spread of COVID-19. We are committed to ensuring our staff and participants are safe and healthy. Teams can still do skills training while maintaining proper distancing and we still have our TelePALS program and our virtual programming as well as our green spaces, parks and trails which are great for this time of year.”

The pause will be evaluated frequently and will be lifted once Halton Region Public Health deems it safe to resume these indoor activities in City facilities.

Burlington Mayor Marianne Meed Ward said taking these temporary steps now will allow the community to get back on its feet sooner. “While this news will be disappointing to many residents, we must keep in mind these are truly extraordinary times and they require extraordinary efforts on all of our parts, as a community, to ensure we slow down the spread of this pandemic.”

 

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