While many fitness facilities have taken extraordinary health and safety measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, B.C.’s top doctor says they must remain closed to curb the spread.
Since gyms, yoga and dance studios were ordered to close last month, many owners of those facilities have decried what they call a lack of evidence showing the virus has been transmitted within their walls.
Addressing those concerns, Dr. Bonnie Henry said Tuesday there are “a number of examples” of COVID-19 being passed on through indoor adult fitness activities.
“When we have a lot of transmission in our community we have repeatedly seen that gyms become amplifiers,” she said in the first pandemic briefing of 2022. “We can tell you we’ve seen this as a pattern.”
This week, several boxing gyms in B.C. confirmed their plans to reopen this week or next week at half-capacity, in accordance with public health restrictions.
Those restrictions specify that “adult indoor individual and group fitness or exercise activities” are not permitted, but “other sport activities that normally take place in a sport environment can continue.”
That includes adult indoor sport or recreation programs as long as they don’t exceed 50 per cent of facility’s space, along with individual activities like swimming and skiing.
The move sparked confusion from at least one fitness facility owner, who called for an “equal playing field” for all businesses in the fitness industry.
Jen Hamilton of Oxygen Yoga and Fitness said Monday she’s spent thousands of dollars on making her facilities and classes safe during COVID-19, and she’s not sure why gyms and studios have been “targeted.”
On Tuesday, Henry said certain industries — including gyms and travel — are riskier by nature, even when measures like masking and distancing are taken.
“Gyms are doing everything right in many cases, but the reputable ones understand that they’re not going to put their staff and clients at risk when we’re seeing the amount of transmission that we’re seeing right now,” she said. “This will pass.”
The province will allow all fitness facilities to reopen at the first opportunity when it is safe, she added.
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