Delhi Gym Association hopes for positive response from people on reopening after 2 months

Delhi Gym Association is hopeful for a good response from people after Gyms and yoga centres have been allowed to reopen in the national capital from Monday at 50 per cent capacity.

All fitness centres have been shut for over two months in order to contain the spread of COVID-19 and combat the second wave of the pandemic.

However, even after witnessing a crumbling health care system that saw severe oxygen and bed shortages, the people running this business are positive that there will be a good response from Delhiites.

Speaking toon Sunday, vice president of the Delhi Gym Association, Chirag Sethi said, "After two months, gyms are opening. The good thing is that we are ready with all the SOPs. We are prepared with sanitisation and slot systems. We can open the gym from tomorrow. We expect that people will come back as there has been a positive response in other cities like Gurugram and Jaipur where permission had been granted to reopen the gym."

"People are thinking about health and fitness. So, I believe a good response will come this time," he said.

Sethi further said that he has received several calls since morning about the timings of reopening the gym.

"People in this pandemic have learned that health is wealth. Everyone has understood that there is only one way to survive and that is, to be fit. I got around 20 calls since morning asking when the gym will open," he said.

Over the possibility of the third wave hitting the country and the business being severely impacted again, he urged the government to provide financial support to the people.

Sethi said, "If you see, in the last 14 months, our gyms were closed for 8 months. We know how much we have earned in the rest of six months and we need to extract the expenses of the remaining months. We have the pressure of rent on our head. There is a fixed electricity charge. So, we would like to request the government to waive off this fixed charge."

"Many people in our industry don't have a fixed income. We also request the government to extend their help to trainers, housekeeping staff. These people have no financial support and gym owners don't have money now to support their staff," he said.

Hoping that everything will fall into place and normalcy will be achieved, he added, "We are expecting that our gyms will come back on track. People will come and a positive message will spread that exercise is important. We will abide by the guidelines given by the government and we will allow entry strictly on 50 per cent occupancy. We will give the slot to everyone and they will come according to the slot."

The Delhi government had earlier assured gradual easing of COVID-19 restrictions. In the order issued by the Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Saturday, marriages have also been permitted at banquet halls and other halls with maximum 50 persons. As per the guideline, owners of banquet halls, marriage halls, hotels and gymnasiums/yoga institutes shall be responsible for ensuring strict compliance of COVID-19 appropriate behaviour in their premises.

According to the health bulletin issued on Saturday, 85 new cases were reported in Delhi - lowest single-day surge in cases this year. So far, the lowest positivity rate was also recorded yesterday with 0.12 per cent.

( With inputs from ANI )