Want to take a refreshing dip in the pool on a warm day or do a few laps for exercise? You may be out of luck, depending on where you want to get wet.
The state in its latest stay-at-home order has allowed outdoor pools to stay open with safety protocols in place, but some aquatic options remain shuttered, frustrating some swimmers and pool enthusiasts who want them opened back up. Others continue to operate, adding precautions such as temperature checks at the door or capacity limits to avoid crowding.
An online petition has garnered nearly 1,000 signatures asking for state guidance to safely – and uniformly – have all pools open up.
Sean Plotkin, of Costa Mesa, started the petition, arguing the state’s latest order is confusing for operators and many still remain shuttered, a move unfair for people looking to recreate safely, he said.
“There’s just a disconnect,” he said. “How is there a lack of uniformity?”
He came up with the tagline to his petition to state leaders: S.O.A.P, U.P!, an acronym for “Safely Open All Pools, Uniformly Please!”
An avid water polo player, Plotkin said spending time in the pool exercising is his outlet, a way to let off some steam during this especially stressful time.
While he has the option to pay for lap time at a pool that’s open near his home, he felt other water enthusiasts should all have the same opportunity.
“Why do I get to swim in a pool, but former team mates can’t access their pools?” he asked. “Their pools are locked. That’s part of the reason I started the petition.”
Plotkin said he is in the process of setting up a blog to track which pools are open, and to try to track transmission of coronavirus from exposures at pool.
According to Christine Lane, director for OC Environmental Health, the county echoes the state’s recommendations when it comes to pools. Outdoor swimming pools are allowed to open in all counties in California, but must close slides, rides or other attractions. Indoor swimming pools are closed in counties still in the state’s purple or red tiers – Orange County has been in the most restrictive purple tier for weeks.
Drowning prevention classes, including swim lessons with certified instructors, are permitted in indoor and outdoor swimming pools in all tiers, as they are deemed essential.
Water parks – both indoor and outdoor – remain closed throughout the state.
State guidelines say when out of the water, masks or face coverings should be worn and physical distancing should be practiced at all times, with group gatherings not allowed. Pool operators should follow heightened cleaning and safety guidance, officials say.
Andrew Noymer, an associate profession of population, health and disease prevention at UCI, said there’s ways to open, but safely.
“I’m not worried about the transmission of the virus through water,” he said, especially because many pools are outdoors in Southern California.
But what if two people are swimming side-by-side and they are both breathing heavily? “I can’t rule out transmission like that,” he said.
To be on the safe side, pools could open only every other lane, he said. He equated swimming, and the need for physical exercise, to jogging outdoors, which can be done safely if not around others.
When asked about water polo, he equated it to soccer, which he believes should be restricted, for now.
“It’s a contact sport,” he said. “People are breathing hard in close proximity to one another. Find another way to exercise. If you’re a water polo player, swim laps.”
But Plotkin argues for more investigated about whether pool transmission actually exist. It’s why he wants to launch a blog to document whether known cases have happened at pools across the nation.
“I don’t understand why there’s no leadership to do this,” he said.
Plotkin said he also worries about his own three kids who are in Zoom classes, stuck at a computer all day.
“They can’t even socialize in recess. If they are in a pool, they can play with their friends and have that social and mental connection,” he said, noting in a pool they can keep distance from one another.
Noymer said he tries to approach closures with a calculated risk, but not “ideologically forcing everyone in the basements.”
What does raise concern is what people do around the pool when they aren’t swimming.
“I’m a little concerned about pools as a social venue, people hanging out and eating potato chips and gossiping with their neighbors when their kids are swimming,” he said.
Some who pay fees for amenities want to see their community pools open back up.
Steve Ashby, who lives in the newly developed Sea Summit community in San Clemente, is upset the homeowner’s association shut down the pool in November following the latest stay-at-home orders.
He can understand the indoor gym being closed, but the pool should be open because it is outdoors, he said.
The HOA recently increased fees to hire a person to watch over users, with hopes of opening by summer, he said. It opened briefly during the summer with guests having to sign waivers.
“I think the fact that the pools are being closed is really upsetting,” he said. “It was explained in a letter that they are waiting until summer so they can hire a nanny to take over and make sure we’re all socially distancing. This is just getting ridiculous.”
Ashby said he doesn’t understand why community pools like the nearby Ole Hanson Beach Club are open, but his is not. “I don’t understand what the deal is.”
Robert DeNichilo, a representative for Sea Summit’s legal firm, said the decision to keep the pool closed comes down to cost and liability.
As a board member of the Orange County chapter for the Community Association Institute, pools are a topic they’ve discussed since the start of the pandemic.
A big issue is the liability because most insurance policies won’t cover COVID-19 claims. While someone may have a difficult time proving they were infected while at a community pool, just fighting such a claim and hiring experts to testify would require funds associations often don’t account for in their budgets.
“If someone trips and falls, we have insurance for that,” he said. “But for this, we don’t.”
For the community pools that have opened up, they have implemented a variety ways to comply with guidelines, such as requiring reservations to limit the number of people and hiring a “pool monitor” to be there during staggered open hours, with a janitor who comes in and cleans between visitors.
“It’s a difficult subject from a cost standpoint. An association with significant resources might be able to pay for a pool monitor, but some of them are barely making it,” DeNichilo said.
According to a July survey by CAI of 1,000 respondents from more than 2,200 communities from 39 states in the U.S, there were several factors reported for not opening pools, with about 40% keeping pools closed even during popular summer months because of virus concerns.
The communities that opened their pool put in new procedures, including prohibiting guests, requiring a liability waiver and requiring residents to bring their own chairs.
About half of those surveyed reported a community board chose to not open the pool due to an attorney’s recommendation, with 40% citing lack of insurance coverage and 58% citing fear of exposure to legal liability.
Only 1% said the residents requested the pools remain closed.
