Porirua City Council closes Aquatic Centre after health concerns

Porirua City Council closed its Arena Aquatic Centre this afternoon (22nd July) after confirmation that five cases of cryptosporidiosis were linked to the pool.

Council Pools Manager Sue Chapman advised that the people who became ill swam in the pool between 19th and 26th June, stating “although we have not been instructed by Regional Public Health to close, we believe the health of our customers is paramount.

“We apologise for the inconvenience to our regular users but expect they would rather we took this precautionary approach.”

Chapman says the aquatic centre will be closed for two days to undertake a complete cleaning regime including treatment of the leisure pool, lane pool, spa and toddler pools with higher doses of chlorine dioxide. The pool is expected to reopen at 5am Monday morning.

Chapman added “we will also clean surfaces and pool equipment – anything the water has touched will be washed.”

In nearby Wellington, the City Council’s Recreation Facilities Manager, Julian Todd, is asking people to stay away from the city’s pools if they have been ill with diarrhoea or stomach upsets in the past couple of weeks.

Todd is supporting Porirua City Council’s decision to close its Arena Aquatic Centre over the weekend after reported cases of the highly-contagious illness cryptosporidiosis.

Todd says Wellington City Council pools staff will work closely with Regional Public Health and with Porirua City Council to keep an eye on the new ‘crypto’ outbreak.

He explains “our main advice is - please don’t come to our pools if you’ve been sick in the past fortnight. If you do you’ll just put the health of other people at risk and also possibly cause our pools to be closed."

The symptoms of cryptosporidium appear around a week after people swallow the parasite. They include diarrhoea, stomach cramps and loss of appetite and can last for two weeks. Anyone concerned they may have the illness should go to their doctor.

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23rd December 2015 - POOL MANAGERS NEED TO BE AWARE OF WATERBORNE BUGS THROUGH SUMMER

20th November 2015 - AWARDS RECOGNISE TOP PERFORMERS IN NEW ZEALAND RECREATION

26th March 2015 - SERIAL DEFECATOR CAUSES WEEKLY CLOSURES OF SOUTHLAND AQUATIC CENTRE

26th March 2013 - VICTORIA RECORDS FOUR-FOLD INCREASE IN CRYPTOSPORIDIUM IN PUBLIC POOLS

8th May 2012 - FAECAL CONTAMINATION IN SWIMMING POOLS LINKED TO RISE IN GASTRO BUGS

26th July 2010 - POPULAR SWIMMING SPOTS PROVE UNSAFE