Dear Editor,
The use of outdoor recreational facilities during the coronavirus pandemic is imperative in maintaining the wellness of our adult and youth population. I am using tennis courts as an example.
We are told of the importance of maintaining social distancing guidelines, and I found these being practiced very carefully at Costco in Kamloops. I can fully understand adhering to these guidelines, particularly in enclosed areas.
I find that, based on the dimensions of a tennis court, with a maximum of four persons playing in an area of this size, they would easily be in compliance with the six-foot distancing guidelines.
No matter where you are at, unless you live alone and do not venture out into the public domain at all, you are going to — at some point — be unintentionally non-compliant with these guidelines.
I was once told by a friend that the acronym for the word “fear” is “false evidence appearing real”, and I find this to be the new reality as we react to COVID-19. Are we creating a panic that could be worse than the actual virus, by overreacting based on fear? Locking the gates to our tennis courts is but one example of our panic. Our wellness is predicated upon maintaining a level of fitness, and closing various venues which promote such fitness but which adhere to the guidelines set by our government clearly demonstrate the duplicity we are experiencing.
I again feel a bit like the Don Quixote of Ashcroft, tilting at windmills as I attempt to grasp the necessity of closing the very venues which might aid in promoting the wellness of our community. Are we going to build huge fences around each of our recreational areas, so as not to expose the public to this virus? I believe that it was Franklin D. Roosevelt who once said that “our greatest fear is fear itself.”
Mike Baldwin
Ashcroft, B.C.
editorial@accjournal.caLike us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter
