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Several gyms have insisted on keeping their doors open in defiance of new closure rules that went into effect in England on Thursday.
Gyms insist the regulations shouldn’t apply to them and have risked fines of up to £ 10,000 to stay open, after a campaign for an exemption to be inserted into the law failed on Wednesday.
“Gyms protect the NHS. We are in a health pandemic and I believe that during this time we should do everything we can to make people healthier and fitter, ”said Alex Lowndes, owner of Gainz.
Lowndes said two Gainz Fitness and Strength sites, one in Bedford and the other in St Neots, Cambridgeshire, were still open Thursday. The business had received four visits from police and one from environmental health in the morning, Lowndes said, and at least half a dozen policemen were gathered in the parking lot of his Bedfordshire location.
Later in the afternoon, Bedfordshire Police confirmed that they and the local council had ordered the gym closed and fined three members.
Lowndes insisted that his motivation was not money and said he was no longer accepting new memberships. “It has become very clear that obesity is the most vulnerable[paralaspersonasconCovidElpropioprimerministrodijoesoEntonces¿porquénohacemosnadaalrespecto?Todoloqueelgobiernohahechohastaahoraesdarnoshamburguesasconquesoamitaddeprecio”dijorefiriéndosealesquemade”saliracomerparaayudar””Creoqueloqueestamoshaciendoalmantenernosabiertosesprotegeralaspersonasconsaludmentalyfísica”[forpeoplewithCovidTheprimeministerhimselfsaidthatSowhyarewenotdoinganythingaboutit?Allthegovernment’sdoneaboutitsofarisgivenushalf-pricecheeseburgers”hesaidreferringtothe”eatouttohelpout”scheme”Ibelievethatwhatwe’redoingbystayingopenisprotectingpeoplewithmentalandphysicalhealth”[paralaspersonasconCovidElpropioprimerministrodijoesoEntonces¿porquénohacemosnadaalrespecto?Todoloqueelgobiernohahechohastaahoraesdarnoshamburguesasconquesoamitaddeprecio”dijorefiriéndosealesquemade“saliracomerparaayudar””Creoqueloqueestamoshaciendoalmantenernosabiertosesprotegeralaspersonasconsaludmentalyfísica”[forpeoplewithCovidTheprimeministerhimselfsaidthatSowhyarewenotdoinganythingaboutit?Allthegovernment’sdoneaboutitsofarisgivenushalf-pricecheeseburgers”hesaidreferringtothe“eatouttohelpout”scheme“Ibelievethatwhatwe’redoingbystayingopenisprotectingpeoplewithmentalandphysicalhealth”
Lowndes added that gyms were becoming more important as the nights wore on, especially for women because they provided a safer environment to exercise than poorly lit parks.
Others said their activities had not yet attracted the attention of authorities. Jayne Deakin, who runs a gym in Bury, Greater Manchester, said she had decided to stay open and risk a hefty fine, which she couldn’t afford.
He stated that the risk was minimal because he was dealing with regular clients and had operated for 110 days without a positive test.
There was a similar story at Majestic Gym in Wigan, which said it had kept its promise to open on Thursday and had not been visited by authorities in the early afternoon.
The College of Policing said the police would only enforce the rules that apply to businesses as a last resort, and said it would leave it up to local government in the first instance.
