Community centres, the Oval, swimming pools, arenas, arts facilities and heritage buildings in Richmond will all be closed as of Monday night to combat the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) – but child care and some limited seniors services will continue.

Richmond council voted on Monday afternoon to close these facilities by the end of the day until further notice, but decided to keep offering child care, spring break camps, Minoru Seniors Centre food service and the delivery of library materials to isolated seniors.

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There is no imperative from the medical health officer to close facilities, explained Serena Lusk, general manager of community services, but with the escalating situation and a decline in participation, city staff were recommending the closures, even though it goes beyond what is recommended.

“We can foresee that, should we take this action today or tomorrow, it will be coming in the near future regardless,” Lusk said.

Lusk said the few services being offered have been modified, with more outdoor activities, more handwashing and small groups.

She added city staff planned to meet with community associations on Monday evening to give them information about the closures.

Furthermore, they authorized two top senior staff members to enact further closures, either if this direction comes from the health authorities or if circumstances warrant it. This refers to the few remaining programs still open, Lusk said.

This decision was made even though the health authority has not recommended shutting down community services, Lusk said.

Vancouver, Burnaby, Port Coquitlam, Delta and Surrey have all closed facilities as well – some have closed all of them, others have made exceptions like Richmond is doing.

On Friday, the city still wasn’t planning to shut down community facilities, but given that more cases were diagnosed – 30 more over the weekend in the province and three now in Richmond – staff felt the situation was changing. On Monday, the provincial and federal governments recommended people stay home.

Several programs in Richmond for homeless people have also been shut down because of the fear of the spread of coronavirus. For example, the Salvation Army has cancelled its church service and St. Alban Anglican Church has closed its shower program.

Council also voted to allow participation in meetings – in an emergency – by teleconferencing. When possible, the meetings will be livestreamed from council chambers with whoever needs to participating by telephone.