Kingston gym owner discusses Ontario’s relaxed coronavirus restrictions

Health, dance and other clubs in Ontario can start letting more people inside.

The province has increased capacity limits for sports, fitness and recreational facilities. They can now welcome up to 50 people per room with these more relaxed coronavirus pandemic rules.

The owner of one Kingston gym, however, has reservations about what the relaxed restrictions mean for safety.

“Fifty would definitely put us way too tight, not being able to follow any of the social distancing rules that KFLA (Kingston, Frontenac, Lennox and Addington Health Unit) has put in place,” said Josh Maveety, owner, operator and trainer at UFIT Kingston.

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Maveety says he’s fine with his between 15 and 20 clients at a time, saying the higher numbers, at least now, are just fine for others.

“The Goodlifes and Omega and the Y, those big gyms, they definitely have a lot bigger space to accommodate that,” Maveety said.

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“For them, being in that 20,000 square feet, 50 people really shouldn’t be super difficult as long as the clients and customers are abiding by all the protocols.”

Maveety, a former Canadian Football League kicker, says they’re doing everything by the book at his gym and that includes plenty of protocols. But he says it’s also a two-way street.

“We’re all adults here and we need to understand that it’s not just the business’s job to follow or abide by the rules,” he said.

“It’s also the client or customer’s job to obey those as well. I feel that if everybody does their job then there really shouldn’t be any serious implications from it.”

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The new regulations apply to multi-purpose recreational facilities, arenas, community centres, gymnasiums, health clubs, exercise clubs, yoga studios and dance studios.

City of Kingston officials say the INVISTA Centre and Rideau Heights Community Centre are expected to begin to reopen in mid-September.

The Artillery Park Aquatic Centre will not be reopened for recreational use until at least October.