Lower Mainland spin classes and dance studios are facing mixed messages from health officials about when they’ll be allowed to reopen.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry ordered all group indoor physical activities to close on Nov. 7 as a part of a bid to curb rapid spread of the novel coronavirus in the region.
At the time, Henry said the businesses would need to re-submit COVID-19 safety plans to their regional medical health officers for approval before they could reopen.
Jamie Armstrong, owner of Method Cycling, said he’s done just that, but has been told by Vancouver Coastal Health officials that they’ve put a freeze on new approvals.
It’s a position he says is unfair, given that several other spin class companies in the health region have been given the green light to reopen.
“It’s clearly not fair. It’s like if the ministry had shut down all the restaurants, then said the Cactus Club can open, the Keg can open, but the rest of you guys have to wait.”
Armstrong shared an email from a Coastal Health officer which stated that the region had been proactive in creating its own safety checklist, but that the Ministry of Health had taken over and would be producing the guidance document.
A statement from the ministry did little to clear up why some businesses were allowed to remain open while others weren’t.
“Health authorities would only be able to begin approving safety restart plans for group fitness activities if final guidance was provided by the Provincial Health Officer,” reads the statement.
“Any approvals that were provided prematurely by the Health Authorities are rescinded.”
“I don’t know if it’s a power struggle, I don’t know what the relationship is between these authorities, but they’re fumbling the ball and it’s affecting us in a big, big way,” Armstrong said.
The reopening of dance studios has also been inconsistent across the Lower Mainland.
Fraser Health has yet to give the green light to any such facilities.
Meanwhile, the North Shore Academy of Dancing in North Vancouver reopened Saturday, after its plan was approved by Vancouver Coastal Health.
“The paperwork was a lot of work. I believe it was a 14-page criteria we had to meet,” owner Dylan Steyns said.
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“Me and my wife were up to late hours making sure all the information was correct. There was a lot of boxes to check, absolutely.”
Steyns said no one had told him that any approvals had been given “prematurely,” and that no one from the health authority had followed up since giving them the green light to reopen.
“I’m happy we’re open, but I don’t want to be doing something we shouldn’t be doing,” he said, adding he’d shut the studio down if required.
“They’ve got their hands full. They’re doing their very best. I think everybody wants this to go smoothly.”
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