With stringent regional stay-at-home orders taking effect in much of California at midnight Sunday, parents, local officials and public health experts are objecting to one aspect of the orders: the closure of public playgrounds. They argue that playgrounds are a safe and essential way for families to get fresh air and exercise, and that children are better off there than cooped up indoors.
Experts say that the risk of contracting coronavirus at outdoor playgrounds is very low. The virus does not spread nearly as readily in the open air as it does in confined indoor spaces, and the risk of transmission through contaminated surfaces is minimal, particularly when people are using hand sanitizer, according to Joseph Allen, associate professor of exposure assessment science at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.
“When you step back and look at this from a real exposure-risk standpoint, these are the exact kind of activities we should be encouraging,” Dr. Allen said. “Get kids outside, get them playing, get them moving in these low-risk environments. Playgrounds should be open, there’s no question.”
A dozen state legislators said in a letter to Gov. Gavin Newsom on Friday that closing playgrounds would be especially hard on low-income families who “may have little to no outdoor space of their own available.”
“Public playgrounds provide a shared outdoor resource for families without having to travel far, pay entrance fees, or need additional gear,” the letter noted.
New York City faced a similar problem in the spring, when an order to close playgrounds led to scenes of crying children shaking locked gates.
In California, where daily caseloads have tripled in the last month, the new measures are its strictest since the beginning of the pandemic. Two regions, Southern California and the San Joaquin Valley, have crossed the state’s I.C.U. capacity threshold of 85 percent, triggering stay-at-home orders and other tough measures at 11:59 p.m.
In the San Francisco Bay Area, local officials announced Friday that the region would adopt the new limits before hitting the threshold.
Los Angeles County also closed its playgrounds before the state restrictions were announced. “There has been a lot of gathering at playgrounds for extended periods of time, unfortunately without any distancing,” the county’s public health director, Barbara Ferrer, said at a news conference. “It’s been so difficult for there to be compliance at these sites.”
Experts note that the young children who are the main intended users of playgrounds are less likely to contract the virus, suffer severe symptoms or transmit it to others than adults are.
“The idea that playgrounds can be closed doesn’t make sense when you think about who uses playgrounds and their lower risk factors,” Dr. Allen said. “We need this relief.”
— Giulia McDonnell Nieto del Rio The New York Times