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Ricky Zililo, Senior Sports Reporter

BULAWAYO Metropolitan Swimming Board (BMBS) has encouraged private pool owners to take heed of a raft of measures to contain the Covid-19 announced by President  Mnangagwa and keep their pools clean.

President Mnangagwa announced a blanket ban on gatherings around recreational facilities such as swimming pools, gyms, sports bars and sporting activities until further notice.

With the swimming season over, BMSB spokesperson Thomas Werret welcomed the closure of public pools.

“Our health is key and private pools owners must take these precautions seriously because at the end of the day it’s safety first,” said Werret. 

“We are blessed to have a partnership with Bulawayo City Council (BCC), who do massive maintenance of public pools. The season had just ended and the pools were about to close for the off-season. We trust that as usual, the local authority will stick to their procedure of maintaining the pools, which are not used during winter. We hope by the time the public pools open in August, the coronavirus would have been dealt with,” he said.

Individual swimmers that qualified to compete in international events have been training at private pools.

Besides the public pools, gyms across Bulawayo have also shut their doors in adherence to measures meant to curb the spread of pandemic.

Body Works Gym, which has two branches at Parkade Centre and Belmont, had a note on their doors informing members that they are closing indefinitely.

The gym also notified its members via its official Twitter handle about the closure.

“We regret to advice our members and clients that we are closing both our gyms with immediate effect in line with measures announced by the Government in fighting the Covid-19,” posted Body Works Gym on Twitter. – @ZililoR