GEORGE TOWN – Since gyms and exercise studios were allowed to reopen three days ago, many members are still wary of heading back, fearing Covid-19 infection.
Many have requested to terminate their memberships, while gym operators try to convince them not to by extending their plans according to months of inactivity.
Penang’s youth and sports exco Soon Lip Chee said that all this trouble could have been avoided if the federal government had studied the issue clearly and carefully, understanding the situation on the ground before imposing a blanket ban on all gyms and exercise studios.
“We have not seen any clusters from gym centres, but we do see many from factories and restaurants,” he said.
“Gym centres have suffered a lot, even when the Youth and Sports Ministry opened the parks, I did request for them to open gyms as well, but I did not get a response.
“Many gym centres have suffered a lot because they are also small operators,” he said.
Going forward, he hopes that the status of gyms’ opening does not depend on the number of Covid-19 cases in the country.
“If air ventilation is the problem, then what about offices and factories that are fully air-conditioned? Isn’t ventilation a problem there, too?” he said.
“The logic used must be consistent, and the government must have a way to solve this ventilation issue then; since it also covers other sectors, not just the gym.”
Soon said this during his visit to Seven Star Gym at Batu Lanchang here.
The gym’s operations manager Kevin Too said that only 10% of its 123 members revisited the gym after reopening.
“We had to call our members to remind them that we are already open and tell them that their membership has been extended by four months.
“We need to beef up our customer service so they will come back to patronise the place. It is so important because we have struggled so much during this four-month closure.
“I really hope that there is no more closing of gyms,” he said.
Gym member T. Yuvarajah, said that gyms are essential because home workouts are not sufficient.
When the government closed gyms, their patrons headed to the parks – where there are a lot of people anyway – to exercise.
“To avoid people, I go at 1pm for my jog,” he said.
“I don’t think closing down everything is the solution. Come up with a prevention method to stop infection. As long as there is a good system, the gyms can continue to operate.
“It is not fair that tourism and dining are allowed to open first,” Yuvarajah said.
The government recently decided to allow gyms to resume operations.
The Vibes reported that the gyms in Malaysia have pumped in more than RM4.5 million to adhere to the standard operating procedures (SOPs) as requested by the National Security Council.
Based on a survey conducted by the Malaysian Fitness Coalition, gym owners and operators in East and West Malaysia have spent that on sanitising, cleaning and providing other hygienic services in their effort to mitigate the risk of Covid-19 in their premises.
The Vibes also spoke to member of the Youth and Sports Ministry’s panel of experts committee, Datuk V. Radhakrishnan, who said that gyms are only allowed 50% occupancy.
“No matter the size of the premise, we are only allowed 50% occupancy at any time and customers as well as gym employees need to be fully vaccinated.
“Also, we can only accept scheduled appointments as walk-in customers are strictly not permitted,” he said, clarifying that the measure was put in place to control the number of people in the respective gyms.
Shower and locker facilities will not be made available to curb the spread of coronavirus. – The Vibes, September 22, 2021
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