Fitness & Wellness
Are gyms open in India?
With a new wave of COVID cases surging in India, several states are imposing new guidelines of shutting down gyms.
Are gyms open in India? (Source: Gulf News)
In March 2020, cases of COVID 19 started to spike in India, and because of the contagious nature of the virus, a lockdown was imposed across India. As a result, places of public gathering were shutdown. Public gyms were one of the places that were shut since the beginning of lockdown to check the exposed spread of the virus.
In India, gyms were initially closed for five months, and on August 5, the government allowed gyms in the country to reopen in some of the states. However, despite being open, it couldn't allay the fear of most citizens who were conscious about going to gyms. One of the first states to open gyms in August was Karnataka. However, only a few fitness enthusiasts turned up at gyms across the state.
Thermal screening, entry of a limited number of people, regular sanitisation of equipment -- these are some of the precautions that were being followed by gyms in Delhi as they resume operations in September 2020. Whereas, in Maharashtra, gyms and fitness centres were able to restart operations after Dusshera 2020 with strictly following the Standard Operation Procedures (SOP).
In Nagpur, gyms, which had been shut for the most part of the last year, were opened for a brief period in October only to be closed again from March 15 due to rising Covid-19 cases in the city. Severely hit by the Covid lockdown last year followed by strict restrictions this year, a delegation of Gym Owners' Association met guardian minister Nitin Raut with a demand to allow reopening of their establishments as early as possible.
In Ahmedabad, owing to a spike in Covid cases, the Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation in March closed down all parks and gardens, the Kankaria lakefront, the zoo, the Balvatika, amusement parks, gymnasiums, sports clubs, gaming zones, and buses in the city. These facilities will remain closed indefinitely.
Karnataka, which was the first state to reopen gyms, has again issued a directive to shut places like gyms and swimming pools on April 2nd. The state ordered the closure of boarding and residential hostels for primary and secondary schools and optional attendance for students of Classes 10, 11, and 12. It further said gymnasium, party halls, clubhouses and swimming pools are to remain closed while occupancy in buses should not exceed beyond the seating capacity. Karnataka, on Friday reported 4,991 fresh COVID-19 cases, of which 3,509 cases were reported from Bengaluru urban.
The order, issued by Karnataka Chief Secretary P Ravi Kumar, also suspended physical classes for classes six to nine. "Classes 10, 11 and 12th can continue in the existing mode. However, attendance to these classes in person is not mandatory," it went on to state. Further, classes of higher and professional courses have been suspended except classes due for Board or University examinations and of Health Sciences.
With the second wave of coronavirus making a surge in India, it seems gyms across the country will again be shut down following the directives of respective state governments and it is unclear when gyms will be able to reopen. We might just have to switch on our 'Atmanirbhar' side and rely upon working out in the home.
