New guidelines in place for community pool use to help fight spread of COVID-19

It's a scorcher out there with temperatures soaring well above normal. In Riverside County, where temperatures inched toward triple digits, there are new guidelines in place for community pool use to help fight the spread of COVID-19. FOX 11 reporter Hailey Winslow has the guidelines to get people back in the pool.

LOS ANGELES - The heat is on but Riverside County residents will soon be able to cool off.

Community swimming pools are starting to re-open with guidelines on how to do so safely. The Riverside County Department of Environmental Health put out recommendations, not requirements, to help pools at apartment buildings, condominium complexes and in neighborhoods start to slowly open again.

“I’m ready to go!” exclaimed Daryl Evans as he looks over his swimming pool fence longingly. “I’ve got lupus and I’m ready to cool down and it’ll be nice exercise for me too because I haven’t been in the pool to do any exercise.”

His Windemere apartment pool in Riverside is not open yet, but it will be soon.

The health department is advising residents in the same home to swim in the pool at the same time. “Some of the HOA’s and facilities are working out some kind of scheduling so people can schedule a half-hour or hour block and that allows their household to go and enjoy the pool and then clear out and give someone else the opportunity to go and enjoy the same facilities,” said Riverside County Health Department Senior Spokesman Shane Reichardt.

Pool furniture should be spaced out and the deck, especially commonly-touched surfaces, should be sanitized regularly.

Riverside County leaders plan to reopen their public swimming pools when they can more easily follow the health guidelines.

Los Angeles County community swimming pools are not planning to reopen yet.

The CDC says there is no evidence that the coronavirus can spread through water in a swimming pool if chlorine levels are up to par.