Is swimming safe now? (covid-19)

In the midst of the Wuhan Coronavirus outbreak, many parents are worried about swimming during this sensitive period as the virus is known to spread through bodily fluids, such as blood, tears, water droplets from saliva and sneeze and even faecal matters.

The most common question we have gotten these two months are: Is swimming safe? Why are schools cancelling swimming lessons then?

Based on the directives from the Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education, and advices from doctors and professors, they have largely concluded that swimming is not dangerous because chlorine kills off majority of the pathogens in the water.

Why was my child’s school swimming lesson be cancelled then?

Swimsafer classes in school are cancelled largely because large group activities are cancelled to reduce exposure. Unlike our usual external swimming classes, school swimsafer programmes see about 80 to 100 children at each time!

How does Odysseus Aquatics react to this infection and how can we stay protected?

Our school takes students’ wellness and safety very seriously and therefore, for the month of February, with the DORSCON level raised to Orange, we have ceased group classes at the public pool temporarily.

Other small group classes of 5 students and below still remain in operation, especially so for private pools in condominiums that see even lesser footfalls as compared to public pools.

We urge parents and children who are feeling unwell to stay away from the class to ensure that the remaining children do not get infected, whether by the common flu or not.