Quebec gyms, arenas, indoor pools and public and private beaches can reopen as of Monday

Sports and recreation to reopen Quebec is reopening beaches, indoor pools and gyms on Monday with new public health recommendations.

Montreal — Quebec gyms, arenas, indoor pools and public and private beaches can reopen Monday with public health measures such as physical distancing in place.

Team sports games can also resume Monday. (The government had previously announced sports teams could begin training).

Isabelle Charest, the Quebec minister responsible for sports, and Horacio Arruda, Quebec's national director of public health, made the announcement Wednesday morning in Quebec City.

"Physical distancing remains the rule to respect," she said. "However, during team games, accidental and sporadic contact will be accepted."

"It is a return to normalcy that will have to be done carefully, and we will have to make adjustments in the practice of our favorite sporting activities," Charest added. "However, I am convinced that we will adapt quickly."

The province has already permitted outdoor team and individual sports and recreational activities to resume across Quebec, also while respecting public health guidelines.

If this new phase of reopening is successful, public health authorities said, then combat sports may be the next to be given the green light to resume.

Facilities such as martial arts centres can also reopen on Monday -- but only for training and conditioning purposes.

Charest and Arruda recognized during the news conference that authorities can't control everyone's behaviour and said they are relying on people's good faith.

Locker rooms and bathrooms inside gyms and arenas can remain open, for instance, but Arruda and Charest asked people to avoid using them in order to reduce the risks of COVID-19 transmission.

Charest said managers of indoor sports and training centres have been given guides created by the province's workplace safety board that detail how to operate safely.

-- The Canadian Press contributed to this report