BERWICK, Pa. — The Ber-Vaughn Pool opened Saturday, and the manager says it's been very busy every day.
"We've been getting calls nonstop for the past three days asking if we were open. Everybody's been so excited," said pool manager Stephanie Parker
The Ber-Vaughn Pool opened two weeks later than normal because of the coronavirus.
"It's better late than never," said Berwick resident Jackie Klahold. "I'm just glad there's a lot of precautions in place. People are really adhering to everything, so it's wonderful."
Public pools are allowed to open in the state's yellow and green phases. Employees ask that people wear masks when going to the front desk and concession stand and talking to lifeguards. The CDC does not recommend wearing a mask in the water.
"Obviously, when the mask gets wet, it's going to cling to your face, so that's more of a concern for us than them getting sick from it. The lifeguards aren't wearing them because if they have to jump in, once again, the mask will get wet," Parker said.
The concession stand is open, but employees are limited on what they can serve. It's got to be prepackaged food.
"We have caution tape around the guard chairs, so people aren't getting too close. And the adult section where the lounge chairs are, we have them spaced out more then we have before, and we have half as many chairs out," Parker added.
People we spoke with say they don't mind the new safety precautions.
"They're pretty much everywhere, and if we're going to try to get back to some sort of normalcy, I think we have to embrace what is going to be normal or the new normal, whatever you want to call it," Klahold said.
Employees at the Ber-Vaughn Pool are also doing extra cleaning and disinfecting.