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New York City to reopen some public pools on Friday as temperatures heat up

This medium-sized pool (at 75 feet long) is beloved for its cool and clean water and space for kids in an adjacent wading pool. It was also upgraded in 2018 as part of the NYC Parks Cool Pools initiative. (Third Avenue and Nevins Street)

Eight “key” public pools will reopen tomorrow to help New Yorkers beat the heat during another sweltering summer, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Thursday and seven more will reopen next Friday, July 31. 

The number of people in locker rooms will be limited and visitors will be required to maintain social distance when out of the water, Mayor de Blasio told reporters. “We’re gonna be careful about not overcrowding, you in the pool is a good situation, doctors will attest that fluorine is our friend in fighting the coronavirus but we still need be careful about being in too close of contact.” 

Pool reopenings come as the city announces four new testing locations at Medrite Urgent Care facilities, bumping the total testing capacity to 50,000 New Yorkers a day. The citywide median coronavirus turnaround rate is now two days, less than half of what it was last week, according to head of the New York City Test and Trace Corps. Dr. Ted Long. 

The announcements come as new infection rates remain well below the city’s threshold of 200 a day. As of Tuesday, City Hall reported  69 people were admitted a public hospital with possible COVID-19 symptoms, 297 people were in a public hospital intensive care unit due to COVID-19 complications and the number of New York City residents testing positive for the virus remains at 2%. 

Here is a list of the pools reopening tomorrow: 

Bronx:

Mullaly Park Pool , Highbridge

Brooklyn:

Sunset Pool, Sunset Park

Kosciuszko Pool, Bed-Stuy

Manhattan: 

Wagner Pool, East Harlem

Queens:

Liberty Pool, Jamaica

Fisher Pool, East Elmhurst

Staten Island:

Tottenville Pool, Tottenville 

Lyons Pool, Tompkinsville