Almost all of the YMCA’s 16 health and fitness centres in the London region have reopened to the public, organization officials said Tuesday.
The news nearly brings to a close what has been a staggered approach over the last several weeks by the YMCA of Southwestern Ontario to reopen its London-area buildings.
London’s Bostwick and Stoney Creek branches, and branches in Central Huron, Middlesex Centre, North Middlesex, and Strathroy-Caradoc, reopened on Aug. 21, while branches in Chatham-Kent, Petrolia, and Sarnia opened Aug. 28.
As of Tuesday, London’s two remaining branches — Bob Hayward and Centre — and branches in Goderich, Lambton Shores, and St. Thomas, have now reopened to the public.
Several branches had been offering outdoor group activity sessions and limited-window indoor workout times since the start of August.
Get weekly health news
YMCA members in Windsor and Woodstock will have to wait a bit longer. The two locations will remain closed until further notice, said Mike Ennis, COO of YMCA of Southwestern Ontario.
“We’re continuing to evaluate that with each of the local officials, and we hope to be able to share more news about that in the very, very near future,” he said.
That being said, full-day child care is available in Woodstock, and day camp is available at both locations.
Though nearly all of its branches have reopened, local YMCA officials note online that indoor amenities are limited to the fitness centres and strength and cardio equipment for the time being.
“Our fitness centres are open right now, and then we will be opening pools in the coming weeks,” Ennis said.
“We have group fitness programming outside, and then we’ll start moving that inside in the next coming weeks as well. So every couple of weeks you’re going to see us continue to relaunch our programming.”
YMCA patrons will find the experience indoors a bit different compared to how things were earlier this year before the novel coronavirus was declared a global pandemic.
“You’ll notice, as soon as you walk into the building, we have strict screening protocol. We have glass at all our counter and public offering spots. Our equipment’s been distanced. We have hand sanitizer everywhere, a lot of signage, and different entry and exit points,” Ellis said.
“We’re really pleased that we’ve been able to space out the equipment so that you can still have that social interaction that people are so dearly missing, yet do it in a safe way.”
Ennis says the schedule for relaunching programs may differ at each location, so members are advised to visit the YMCA website or follow the social media pages for their local branch to keep up to date.
“(Making sure) that we can maintain safety is our number one objective and that we adhere with all the different guidelines from the health unit and local officials,” he said.
Comments
Want to discuss? Please read our Commenting Policy first.