- The Parisian municipal swimming pools will not reopen before June 2, and perhaps much later.
- However chlorinated water is an excellent bulwark against the coronavirus, indicates the researcher Christophe Gantzer.
- The main risk of municipal swimming pools lies in the difficulty of enforcing social distancing measures.
Sunny days are approaching and what could be better than cooling off with a swim. Except that in Paris, it will not be possible right away. Like most collective sports facilities, the pools will remain closed for a few more weeks. "All swimming pools in France are closed to the general public until June 2 at least, in accordance with government instructions and guides published by the Ministry of Sports," said the municipality. The latter ensures "exchange with the health authorities to consider the terms and conditions of their reopening". Unfortunately, we will hardly know any more: “It is at this stage too early to be sure of anything. "
However, chlorinated water is surely one of the best ramparts against the coronavirus. Christophe Gantzer, deputy director of the Laboratory of physical chemistry and microbiology for materials and the environment (University of Lorraine / CNRS) estimates the "risk of low contamination because chlorine makes the virus inactive". Similarly, "the transmission of the virus from person to person by chlorinated water seems to me to be a risk which is not significant in the current state of knowledge", judges the scientist.
UV rays against Covid-19
In the case of swimming pools treated with salt, the inactivation of the virus will take more time than with chlorine, but "there has not been any demonstration of such transmissions currently by this way", reassures the researcher . Beyond the type of water used, other parameters affect the survival of the virus. "Temperature is the major parameter inactivating viruses, whatever it is," says Christophe Gantzer. The higher the temperature, the faster the inactivation. In addition to being more pleasant, hot water therefore protects more than cold water.
Outdoor swimming pools, rare in Paris, it must be admitted, benefit from a significant ally in the fight against the coronavirus, namely the ultraviolet (UV) emitted by the sun. In fact, "UV rays inactivate the virus fairly quickly", specifies Christophe Gantzer. In summary, "transmission through swimming pools is not a major risk, even if you should never say never".
Our file on the coronavirus
On the other hand, specifies the researcher, “the major risk of swimming pools is the non-respect of the distancing of people. All leisure practices obviously encourage people who are in the pool to get closer than necessary, and at this time there is a risk of person-to-person transmission. "In the event of reopening, it will therefore be necessary to" guarantee the distancing of people ". We can imagine a fitting room out of two, a shower out of two or a water line out of two…
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- Covid 19
- Deconfinement
- Swimming pool
- Coronavirus
- Paris