Bengaluru elite clubs voluntarily shut over coronavirus scare

Bengaluru, June 26 Rising cases of coronavirus have forced over a score elite clubs in this tech city to voluntarily shut shop for the safety of their members, especially the aged, an official said on Friday.

"We have voluntarily decided to close our clubs for some weeks to ensure the safety of our members, especially the aged in view of the rising COVID-19 cases in the city of late though its only three weeks since we reopened," Bengaluru Federation of Clubs president H.S. Srikanth told .

All elite clubs like Bangalore Club, Bowring Institute, Century Club, Golf Association Club, Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) Club, Koramangala Club, Indiranagar Club and Indian Gymkhana Club re-opened in the first week of this month when the Karnataka government began unlock 1.0 to revive the economy and restore near normalcy in the city and the state.

"A consensus decision was taken by all the clubs to voluntarily close from this weekend to avoid health risk to our members. Though only one-third of the members have been visiting their club across the city, we don't want any member to be affected by the virus," Srikanth asserted.

With 5,000-6,000 members per club, the 30-odd elite clubs have about 1,50,000-1,80,000 members, including their spouses and relatives as guest members. Around one-third of members are senior citizens, including retired IAS, IPS and IFS officers, CXOs of India Inc, corporate honchos, celebrities, noted sports persons, doctors, lawyers and senior bureaucrats.

"The decision to shut the clubs was also taken after a member of the Karnataka Golf Association tested positive when he was in the golf course on June 23 along with 50 other golfers, forcing the organisation to halt play and shut the entire area, including its club," member of another club told .

The infected member had also played a round of gold in the course last week but tested positive on Tuesday, according to the Association.

In a message to all its members, the Association said as a precautionary measure, the golf course, the club and other facilities will remain shut down till further notice as a member tested positive.

"As it is our moral and social responsibility to take care of our members, especially their health and welfare in such pandemic times, we have informed them their clubs will remain closed for another few weeks till the situation improved," Century Club honorary secretary E.G. Jaideep said.

Located in the heart of the city, Century Club, Bangalore Club and Bowring Institute Club are over century old, dating back to British Raj.

( With inputs from IANS )