Leisure centres reopen in Wales – but not in Caerphilly County Borough

Leisure centres, swimming pools, gyms and indoor children’s play areas are able to reopen in Wales from today as coronavirus lockdown restrictions are eased.

However, in Caerphilly County Borough, council-run leisure centres will remain closed until at least September 1.

Caerphilly County Borough Council has said the delayed reopening will allow the leisure centre staff to return from redeployment at other services during the pandemic.

Council staff have been redeployed to help with the free school meals programme, recycling centres, contact tracing and more.

In recent weeks, childcare for children of key workers has been provided at Caerphilly Leisure Centre.

Social distancing will be in place at leisure centres across the borough when they do reopen, with customers having to pre-book sessions.

One way systems, cashless payments, shorter opening hours and extra cleaning of equipment are all measures that will be introduced upon reopening.

Councillor Nigel George, cabinet member for neighbourhood services, said: “I am extremely thankful for staff within the sport and leisure services who have continued to support key services across the council throughout the coronavirus pandemic.

“Their hard work and commitment has not gone unnoticed.

“We will now begin to phase our staff back into their primary roles of helping to get more people, more active – more often.”

According to figures released by Public Health Wales on Sunday (August 9), there were no new deaths linked to Covid-19 in Wales, meaning the total number of deaths from the virus stays at 1,579.

Twenty-six new cases of coronavirus have been reported, taking the total number of confirmed cases in Wales to 17,451.