South Africa
#LockdownSA: Reopening of gyms welcomed─── 18:05 Tue, 18 Aug 2020
With gyms and fitness centres now allowed to operate, some managers on Tuesday said the resumption of classes would bring much relief to instructors who had not been paid in almost five months.
Gyms have been given the go-ahead to reopen provided that they don't have more than 50 people at any time.
While many of the smaller fitness centres had grabbed the opportunity with both hands to reopen on Tuesday, it was the heavyweights in the game, such as Virgin Active and Planet Fitness, that have remained closed.
Gold's Gym is a new kid on the block and they plan on opening for the first time in South Africa on Wednesday.
The American gym had plans to open just after the lockdown was implemented in March, but this had to be halted and 32 staff members could no longer be paid.
“Unfortunately, they weren’t covered by UIF as they were contractors,” said marketing manager Devon Muller.
Muller said they would be phasing instructors back in slowly depending on demand.
Meanwhile, Planet Fitness is expected to reopen in Gauteng on Wednesday, and branches in KwaZulu-Natal and Cape Town would start running on Thursday.
Virgin Active will remain closed until its COVID-19 plan is approved by government.
