Pools, gyms and community centres re-opened.
Bay Venues' has re-opened all its 24 facilities in Alert Level 2; including the iconic Mount Hot Pools, family favourite Baywave, Trustpower Baypark, Clubfit gyms, sports and community centres across Tauranga.
Visitors will find new measures in place across all Bay Venues facilities to keep customers and staff safe. These include physical distancing measures, strict health and safety protocols and contact tracing.
In managing visitor numbers to aquatic facilities, Bay Venues has introduced session times for regular users, programmes (such as BaySwim lessons and aqua aerobics) and the general public at Baywave, Greerton Aquatic & Leisure Centre and Otumoetai Pool.
"These will be reassessed over time, but initially it will ensure we don't have disappointed customers waiting in line if we hit maximum numbers. So far the session times are working really well." says marketing manager Samantha Wilkie. Pool session times can be downloaded from www.bayvenues.co.nz.
"Our venues have a huge part to play in helping Tauranga residents return to their daily routines" says interim CEO Justine Brennan. "There will be some small programme and operational changes to comply with Level 2 guidelines, but it's great to be open again; welcoming our customers through our doors and enriching the lives of the Tauranga community."
During lockdown, Bay Venues thought about how they could do things differently once re-opened. At Trustpower Baypark they have developed purpose-built studios to enable events or conferences to take place virtually.
Between the events and audio-visual teams, they can create virtual meetings, stream events and broadcast them to a worldwide audience. For more information visit www.trustpowerbaypark.co.nz.
Before re-opening in Level 2, each Bay Venues facility underwent a thorough clean, followed by the application of an anti-microbial fog throughout the premises to provide long-lasting protection.
Once open, facilities undergo regular commercial cleans. High-touch point areas are disinfected throughout the day and/or between use by staff or user groups.
Aquatic facilities also benefit from the level of chlorine used in the water treatment. "The risk of transmission from COVID-19 via pool water is extremely low, due to the dilution factor and the action of the residual disinfectant i.e. chlorine" confirms Sarah Cresswell, senior training consultant for engineering consultants WSP New Zealand.
Contact tracing must take place at all Bay Venues facilities as part of the measures required for re-opening and to manage capacity limits of 100 people in the venue at one time.
The web form customers complete is accessed via a QR code which is automatically read by the camera on iPhones and for Android users they can download a barcode reader app like Google Lens or ZXing Team Barcode Scanner.
Reception staff at each facility can also manually check-in customers if they don't have a smartphone. Staff are also available to help customers download the necessary app to scan the QR Code.
For more information on Bay Venues Level 2 measures and any operational changes, please visit www.bayvenues.co.nz/about/COVID-19.