The City of Burnaby is starting the process to reopen more of its public facilities.
The next step is reopening playgrounds and outdoor fitness circuits starting on June 1 - but not all of them at once.
“Parks equipment cannot be sanitized regularly — please wash hands before/after use,” said a city tweet. “’Play safely and protect others by maintaining physical distancing and staying home if sick.”
The city told the NOW that about a dozen playgrounds will be open on Monday, mostly ones that have washroom facilities. Then others will open as crews finish work at each one. The city has about 100 of these facilities.
The reopening of the playgrounds is part of the gradual reopening of many parts of B.C. society as COVID-19 cases drop.
B.C. has a very low rate of active COVID-19 cases. There are 244 active known cases of the disease in the province, as of May 27, and 2,144 people who tested positive have recovered.
"We are moving forward carefully into Phase 2, assessing our progress week by week, and we are encouraged by what we have seen so far,” stated Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry on May 27
"COVID-19 has a two-week incubation period, which means any new cases that are a result of the easing of restrictions will start to appear over the coming week.
"With this in mind, let's continue to take advantage of parks and other activities closer to home, and look to increase social interactions only after fully considering the risks to you and your family.
A pair of employees have been attending all of the city’s parks and taking photos of the COVID-19-related signs. They then attach GPS coordinates to the image, and the information is processed by a team of two who upload the information to an interactive map, posted to the city’s COVID-19 resource page.
The city previously announced it would be opening some of its boat launches, public washrooms, sports fields for casual use, sports courts (tennis, pickleball, badminton, bocce, horseshoe, table tennis, tetherball, volleyball), skate parks, a disc golf course, a pair of bike parks and the track at Swangard Stadium.
- With files from Graeme Wood and Dustin Godfrey
