The State government on Sunday provided relief to gymnasiums that were ordered to shut down following the spurt in COVID-19 cases, by issuing a fresh set of guidelines allowing gymnasiums to function with reduced occupancy.
The order issued by Chief Secretary P. Ravikumar under the Disaster Management Act 2005 said that the modifications to the earlier order of April 2, which ordered closure of gymnasiums, have been modified following a number of representations received by the Chief Minister to relax the restrictions with certain conditions.
The order allowed gymnasiums to remain open with the conditions that occupancy at any time cannot exceed 50%. Further, strict COVID -19 appropriate behaviour like ensuring wearing of masks, physical distancing and provision of sanitisers should be enforced. The equipment shall be sanitised after every use and if there is any violation, the gymnasium will be closed till the COVID-19 pandemic is over.
While a series of restrictions had been imposed on Friday, the government — heeding to the appeal from the cinema industry — on Saturday allowed the theatres to defer imposition of 50% occupancy in theatres till April 7.
The gym owners appealing for relaxation had said that over 3,000 out of about 10,000 gymnasiums in the State had permanently closed after the pandemic-related lockdown was implemented in March 2020. The gym owners association had sought a relief package from the government since thousands of livelihoods are dependent on the gyms.