Arizona to Allow Professional Sports, Pools, Gyms to Reopen with Restrictions

Professional sports, pools and gyms can reopen in Arizona on May 15, Governor Doug Ducey announced Tuesday. The state’s stay-at-home order ends Friday.

“This is a green light to continue going forward on the way out of this pandemic. This is not a green light to speed. This is a green light to proceed. And we’re going to proceed with caution,” Ducey said.

Professional sports leagues like Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association that choose to re-start in Arizona will have to do so without fans, initially.

“We have had discussions with leaders of some of these leagues and they all know they are welcome to operate, play and perform in the state of Arizona,” Ducey said.

Last week, retail stores, hair salons, nail salons, and barbershops in the state were allowed to reopen with social distancing measures in place.

Arizona is the latest of a handful of states that have released guidelines for reopening pools. Yesterday, we reported on Arkansas’ plan to reopen pools and aquatic facilities, like watermarks, on May 22. In that case, pools will still have to stay limited to 50% capacity and will be required to keep six feet of distance between patrons.

Wyoming has also announced the reopening of gyms and pools in its return from coronavirus restrictions, as has South Carolina. Other states allowing pools to reopen in some capacity include Alaska (allowing pools to reopen at 50% capacity), Texas (25% capacity) and Florida (where some localities have allowed private pools to reopen).