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VERIFY: COVID-19 concerns at the pool or lake

As Ohio gets ready to allow public pools to reopen May 26, some are concerned about COVID-19 transmitting through the water.

TOLEDO, Ohio — Ohio's public swimming pools are allowed to reopen Tuesday, May 26 with certain precautions in place.

But that has some viewers wondering: am I safe to swim with others, or can I catch COVID-19 in the water?

Let's address this question in parts.

First: can the actual pool or lake water transmit the coronavirus?

The CDC said right now, there's no evidence the virus can spread through water in pools, hot tubs, spas, or play areas.

ProMedica Dr. Brian Kaminski agreed.

"Properly-maintained swimming pools should not be a vector for transmitting this virus, meaning that the pool water itself shouldn't be transmissible when it comes to contracting the virus," he said.

Credit: WTOL

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What about the lake, with water that isn't maintained?

Dr. Kaminski said since it's such a large body of water, the virus would most likely get diluted before you could ever catch it.

But just because we can't catch COVID-19 from the water... doesn't mean we're out of the water.

Remember: public swimming means people.

"If you're in a pool and you're around other people and you have close physical or direct contact with people and you're in that barrier, we still have to remember that the most common way this virus is transmitted is person-to-person," Kaminski said.

So we can VERIFY while you won't get the coronavirus from the water itself, it's still very possible to contract it at pools or lakes if you're in close proximity to others.

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