Rhode Island has become the latest state to reopen aquatic facilities after pandemic closures – spurred on in part due to a need for water safety after an April drowning.
Local news station WPRI reports that the state of Rhode Island will allow public pools to reopen, with a limit of 15 people inside at one time. Locker rooms and restrooms will remain closed. The change comes in phase 2 of the state’s reopening plan, which began on Monday, June 1.
The 15-person limit is the overall social gatherings limit for the state. In the previous phase, gatherings were restricted to just five people or fewer. Now, the state will star to reopen restaurants, malls, salons, barber shops, churches, and gyms, all with varying restrictions.
The WPRI report quotes Pods Swimming owner Susan Pascale-Frechette, who says she’s been pushing harder for the state to reopen pools after a 2-year-old boy drowned in a Rhode Island pool in April.
“There’s got to be a way to get children in to practice water safety skills and we had families after that really emailing us and just really nervous about the summer,” Pascale-Frechette said in that story.
You can see the reopening status of all 50 states in our state-by-state pool reopening index here.
This article is not entirely accurate. The R.I. aquatic facilities order requires restrooms and individual (not communal) showers to remain open with enhanced cleaning protocols.
ReopeningRI Phase 2 Initial Guidelines for Pools (5/28/2020): https://www.reopeningri.com/resource_pdfs/Phase-II/Phase-II-initial-guidance-for-pools-05.28.20.pdf?fbclid=IwAR3feu5rtUE9VSIkg14ttUHvUUBsrcLXCSLnO7WYf5aJlWk-5YgEuW5w88s
Licensing of Aquatic Venues emergency regulations – updated minimum safety standards (6/1/2020): https://risos-apa-production-public.s3.amazonaws.com/DOH/REG_11106_20200601083502.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2zTQW9aDwz5tKaylM9Dt6_9RkIP56ZPRdUNQXcpy1YPlq7T5fWS-MFeZg
Thank you Susan, PODS and Gators for pushing to get the pools open!