Coronavirus: When will B.C. fitness centres re-open?
Posted May 8, 2020 11:05 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
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Question:
This question comes from Catherine: “I’d like to know when or how fitness studios, dance studios and martial arts studios can open again. When your business involves physical body contact, how do we do this?”
Answer
Unlike bars, hair salons, and tattoo parlours, the province hasn’t ordered fitness centres to close.
But both the Interior and Fraser health authorities have forced gyms and other indoor fitness facilities to close.
In April, a spokesperson for Vancouver Coastal Health said it wasn’t issuing a similar order because most gyms chose to close on their own and smaller private gyms could remain open as long as they observed physical distancing protocols.
On Thursday, provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry said most gyms are likely to re-open in the third phase of B.C.’s Restart Plan, which is expected to begin in June if the province continues to control the spread of the coronavirus.
But, she said, the virus has been transmitted at B.C. gyms and when they do re-open they will have to follow new guidelines.
Fitness centres will have to enforce capacity limits (the province has banned gatherings of 50 or more people) and physical distancing among patrons and staff, as well as clean their facilities more often than before, she said.
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