One of the things that Western do-gooders scolded India for was its lack of public restrooms, a hazard to public health. What was the first thing that we did in response to coronaplague? Close our public restrooms!
At the Cape Cod National Seashore in May, for example, the beach was open but the restrooms were closed. From the web site:
DeCordova Art Museum and Sculpture Park: park open by reservation; restrooms closed.
Our town, soon to build the most expensive school building, per student, ever constructed in the United States:
(They have $110 million for a building for 440 town-resident students, but can’t figure out how to keep an outdoor pool’s restrooms clean/safe? Why are porta-potties better? Because only one person will go in at a time?)
Speaking of the pool… “Face coverings should NOT be worn in the water” and “Patrons should not bring water (or land) toys of any kind with them to the facility, as they increase the risk of contact transmission.” (but didn’t we decide that the “science was settled” and people were not getting coronaplague from surface contamination?)
We know you know Kung Flu is a hoax you can stop pretending to play along now. I welcome the new bathroomless America lets the open borders folks get a taste of what America is becoming. America is that much closer to the third world country achievement badge.
New York State parks have open bathrooms. Some Central Park bathrooms are open. Most other park bathrooms are closed. It is very hard to find a store or restaurant bathroom that is open in the city.
This makes it harder for us older folks, who need the bathroom more often, to go out.
Most drinking fountains in Central Park are functioning. I think this is so the dogs can get water. Most other parks have their water fountains shut off.
An interesting historical note — One of the pioneering works of statistical epidemiology was in 19th century London. John Snow discovered that having your shitter by your potable water supply spread cholera.
All the trailhead outhouses around here are still locked up, so people just go in the woods nearby instead. This is probably not a net positive for public health.