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Playgrounds opening Monday in Black Diamond and Turner Valley

Following the lead of Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer, the two Towns are moving ahead with opening their playgrounds on June 1.
John Waring
Turner Valley Coun. John Waring on a swing at Edgar Park in the fall of 2017. The Town announced it's opening its playgrounds to children on Monday after closing them in late March. (Wheel File Photo)

Yellow tape cordoning off playgrounds in Black Diamond and Turner Valley will be replaced with Alberta Health Services signs Monday as playgrounds reopen.

Following the lead of Dr. Deena Hinshaw, Alberta's chief medical officer, the two Towns are moving ahead with opening their playgrounds on June 1. This includes the fitness park beside the Oilfields Regional Arena in Black Diamond.

“It’s the right move,” said Turner Valley Mayor Barry Crane. “Kids are loving just playing outside on the streets right now so this is taking them off the streets and putting them back in the playgrounds.”

Signs will be posted at each playground suggesting park users wash or sanitize their hands before use, maintain a distance of six-feet from each other during play and wash or sanitize their hands afterwards.

Alberta playgrounds were closed to the public in late March in a province-wide effort to reduce the spread of COVID-19. The Province has had approximately 7,000 confirmed cases of the disease since early March, with the peak occurring in late April.

With the green light from Hinshaw, play structures in communities across the province started to open in late May. Playgrounds in Okotoks opened on May 27.

“The Town just wanted time to get proper signage in place and education around social distancing and sanitization for parents to really understand what’s expected of them,” said Crane. “The real thing we want to stress is just the social distancing. At this point it’s the most important thing.”

Jamie Campbell, Black Diamond’s director of emergency management, said the Town will follow Hinshaw’s initiatives and guidelines, which will be posted on signs at each playground in town.

“It’s up to the public to maintain social distancing, to wash their hands before they go and after, whether they bring hand sanitizer with them or do it at home,” he said. “If we respect the guidelines then we should be fine. If we don’t maintain social distancing and we don’t wash our hands and we cough and sneeze over each other we might get sick.”

Campbell said the Town hasn’t directed its peace officers to increase enforcement at playgrounds once they open, adding that it’s being left to the public to practice safe physical distancing and hygiene.

“Are we going to drive around the playgrounds? No,” he said. “Here’s the information, you make the decision. We would much rather focus on education before focusing on enforcement.”

Campbell said he hopes people comply with the rules so that playgrounds can remain open.

“Obviously anything can change - that’s the one thing I’ve learned throughout this event is stuff changes very quickly,” he said. “Fingers crossed we’re going the right direction and let people get back to some semblance of normalcy.”

Tammy Rollie, OkotoksToday.ca

For updated information, follow our COVID-19 special section for the latest local and national news on the coronavirus pandemic, as well as resources, FAQs and more.

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