British Columbia’s plan to gradually ease COVID-19 restrictions has paved the way for a return to normal for sports and fitness in the province.
The province’s four-step plan, which was unveiled on Tuesday, calls for the immediate resumption of low-intensity indoor fitness classes as well as outdoor sports games with no spectators.
An eventual return to normal in September is possible if vaccination rates in the province continue to rise and the number of COVID-19 cases continues to decline.
As early as June 15, that will broaden to include indoor team games and practices for all ages without spectators, but there can be up to 50 spectators for outdoor sports. High-intensity indoor fitness classes can operate at a reduced capacity.
Around July 1, all indoor fitness classes can operate at an increased capacity and there will be a limited number of spectators for indoor sports.
The final step, which will occur in early September, will see increased spectators for both indoor and outdoor sports as well a return to normal competitions with safety plans in place.
Sports officials across the province breathed a collective sigh of relief over Tuesday’s announcement.
“Really excited for parents to come out,” Graham Plumb, vice-president of Layritz Little League in Victoria B.C., said. “They’ve all been anticipating it, and really looking forward to it. It will be nice for the kids too. They like people watching them so it will be great.”
Those in the fitness industry are also relieved.
“It’s just been so hard not having an end date, so now that we do, I feel very positive and very light and I know that the community is thrilled,” Alexa Lofthouse, general manager of Spinco Vancouver Island, an indoor spin studio, said.
The province is also optimistic that there will be no limits on spectators at indoor and outdoor sporting events.
“We’ve been talking to the Lions, we’ve been talking to the Whitecaps,” Premier John Horgan said of the province’s CFL and MLS franchises.
“We’re going to do everything we can to get there, but again, we’ll have to leave those discussions for those franchises with public health and with the government.”