Ceredigion council close all leisure facilities as precautionary measure

WITH the number of Coronavirus cases rising sharply in Ceredigion, the decision has been made to close all Council-run leisure centres, swimming pools and facilities as a precautionary measure.

The difficult decision has been taken by Ceredigion County Council’s Gold Command as leisure centres and associated facilities are high-risk establishments for the transmission of the disease. The risk of transmission of the Coronavirus is high. For that reason, action has been taken now to ensure the safety of our customers, staff and the wider community.

The following leisure centres, swimming pools and facilities will close with immediate effect:

• Aberaeron Leisure Centre
• Lampeter Leisure Centre (all facilities)
• Lampeter Swimming Pool
• Penglais Sports Hall
• Cardigan Artificial Turf Pitch
• Synod Inn Artificial Turf Pitch

The use of the Council’s facilities, including sports fields, schools sports/playing fields and astroturf will not be available until further notice.

The Council states that:

This decision was not taken lightly, as the important contribution that being physically active makes to the well-being of the county’s citizens is recognised. However, the Council has a duty to ensure that the spread of the coronavirus is prevented wherever possible.

One way of preventing the spread of the coronavirus is to limit the social contacts that we all have. The Council has worked closely with schools and other educational establishments to establish class and year group ‘bubbles’ to prevent pupils from different groups coming into close contact with one another. We have also prevented staff who normally work across two or more schools/sites from continuing to do so.  Normally, children and young people of different ages, from different schools and other educational establishments come together to participate in a wide range of activities, clubs and societies in Council-run Leisure Centres. Whilst we acknowledge that this in itself is a very positive thing, in the context of coronavirus, it undermines the steps taken by these establishments to prevent pupils from mixing wherever possible.

The Council extends its deepest thanks to the staff within the Leisure Service. They have done everything they can and put every necessary measure in place to ensure a safe and welcoming service to customers. The staff and customers’ safety is the main priority and with a high risk of transmission, the safest option for all concerned is to close for the time being.

The decision will be reviewed on an ongoing basis based on the number of cases in the County.