Pools in North Carolina could reopen to the general public as soon as Friday night, WRAL reported Monday.
Governor Roy Cooper and Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services Dr. Mandy Cohen said Monday afternoon that pools are on track to hit their usual summer opening date – Memorial Day Weekend – if data trends regarding the spread of COVID-19 remain stable this week.
“We are contemplating allowing pools to open in Phase 2,” Cohen said.
“We will be announcing what the restrictions are a little bit later on this week,” Cooper said. North Carolina is in the midst of a three-phase plan to reopen the state in the wake of the shelter-in-place order that went into effect at the end of March.
Cooper said they would announce the restrictions for pools later this week.
Phase 1 of Cooper’s plan saw the reopening of many retailers on May 8, with social distancing requirements. Generally, the state is set targeting a move into Phase 2 Friday night at 5 p.m., but Cooper said that the official decision to do so will come mid-week.
While pools have yet to officially open to the public in North Carolina, some swim teams in the state got back in action earlier in May.
In South Carolina, pools were allowed to reopen May 18. The state’s public swimming pool guidelines, which can be seen in full here, are more restrictive than most. Facilities can only allow 20% of normal occupancy, or five people (including staff and customers) per 1,000 square feet of pool and deck area, whichever is less.
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