Barton Springs, Deep Eddy will reopen on modified schedule this weekend

Barton Springs and Deep Eddy pools will reopen this Saturday on a modified schedule after being closed for months due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Austin parks and recreation department announced that a limited number of its pool facilities will reopen this weekend. The other reopened pools are Springwoods in North Austin, Bartholomew in East Austin and Big Stacy in South Austin.

No reservations will be required, but capacity limits will be enforced. Once a pool reaches capacity, new swimmers will only be allowed in on a one-in, one-out basis.

Patrons are asked to limit their visits to two hours.

A list of the pools that are reopening can be found here.

PARD closed both Barton Springs and Deep Eddy, along with a host of other parks facilities, in late June to help slow the spread of COVID-19. Previously the pools had been open on a limited, reservations-only basis.

The announcement comes after the average number of new confirmed cases each day has increased about 50% since Sept. 1. The Hospital admissions rate is declining as the majority of those cases are among the 10-29 age group.

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott announced last week that, in most of the state, businesses that had been limited to 50% capacity could expand to 75% capacity. This order applies to restaurants, office buildings, libraries, museums and gyms, among other businesses.

Abbott cited the decline in new COVID cases and related hospitalizations as reason for the change. While the daily caseload has declined post-surge, Texas has reported more new COVID cases than any other state in the last two weeks, according to a data analysis by the New York Times, and more than 15,000 Texans have died from the disease.