April 17, 2021: about parks

Our local parks are quite nice, beautifully designed, with well-maintained playsets for kids. Lots of use by kids and their parents. People will have picnics in the park, etc, but they are not really used as community areas - that would be schools. Nothing about park use has changed or is prohibited during the pandemic - we have been encouraged to get outside for fresh air and exercise, even elderly people. Outdoors is considered to be very very safe. And no one would think to have a mask on a child in a park, I have almost never seen this during the pandemic, and adults would rarely wear one themselves in that setting. We keep hearing the transmission chain tends to be home and work - indoor space, where people are together for extended periods of time.

There are larger parks with sports pitches, etc, these are still in use. Local sports leagues are still active - again a risk/reward trade off, exercise being very important for physical and mental health. Very large parks with concert stages and amusement rides are not being used, there are restrictions on the number of people that can gather. They were due to open mid-April with capacity restrictions, this has been moved to early May.

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