Gyms could be a solution in coronavirus fight, insists boss
A health and exercise industry leader has criticised the “strange” decision to close gyms during lockdown – and insists keeping the nation fit should be the solution to protecting the NHS during the second wave of Covid-19.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson resisted calls from sporting bodies and MPs for fitness facilities to remain open, insisting that removing one part of the lockdown “Jenga block” would compromise the whole package.
Dave Courteen, who is managing director of The Shrewsbury Club in Sundorne and also sits on the members’ council of UK Active, is one of many industry figures who finds the decision baffling.
“The Prime Minister argued that there was a need for consistency to stop cases from slipping through,” he said.
“We could go for a walk around Church Stretton Golf Club with our golf bags, socially distanced, and that would be allowed. But if you take a club out and hit a ball, you’re breaking the rules. There’s no logic to what’s been done.
“As with Liverpool, when they went into Tier 3 and the gyms were closed but then reopened when they realised it was a mistake, our only hope is that they change their mind.
“There have been five million visits recorded since gyms reopened and just 156 incidences where somebody has informed a club they have tested positive.
“The key point to make is that we see gyms and health clubs as part of the solution and not part of the problem itself. I think it’s a very strange decision.”
Closures just don’t add up, claim
Nearly 50,000 visits, just two positive cases, and a cost of £25,000 a month to be plunged into another lockdown.
Those are the figures recorded at The Shrewsbury Club over the course of the pandemic, but the importance of being able to visit your local gym cannot simply be quantified in numbers alone.
“Gyms provide people with a place to exercise, they are proven to help with mental health,” said managing director Dave Courteen. “They also help people build up their strength and immunity, which would help anyone who does catch the virus.”
Like many facilities, the club has gone to great lengths to protect members from spreading the virus, including enhanced cleaning, extra signage and increasing the number of classes so it is easier for participants to keep apart.
“We minimise the risk,” Dave added.
“When you arrive you are given a sanitiser spray bottle to spray before and after you use equipment. We meet all the current guidelines in terms of ventilation. We’ve upped the cleaning routine.”
