By YOURI KEMP

Tribune Business Reporter

ykemp@tribunemedia.net

Bahamian gyms and fitness centres yesterday acknowledged that social distancing will be critical to their safe COVID-19 re-opening on July 1.

Jennifer Godet, owner of J-Line Fitness Bahamas, told Tribune Business that the permission granted by Dr Hubert Minnis for the sector to re-open on the same date that the tourism industry fully returns is “great”.

“I commend the Prime Minister on everything that he is doing; I think he is doing a great job,” she said. “I think he has kept our numbers nice and low, and I think under his leadership we have been able to get through this pandemic to this point with nice low numbers.

“I think it’s time now. I know all of the gyms on the island are getting ready in terms of our COVID preparedness. We are ready to do it properly, and open properly and open hygienically. It’s going to be up to the people when they come back to just adhere to the COVID-19 protocols, but I think it is time.”

Ms Godet warned patrons: “You just have to keep your six to eight feet distance from the person next to you. J-Line is actually quite adequate; we span over an acre. We have rooms, indoor, outdoor, weight room and aerobics room, so it is going to be no problem for people to stay their distance from one another.”

Acknowledging that COVID-19 was primarily spread by droplets created when an infected person sneezes or coughs, she said: “In the gym you are going to have sweat and people breathing hard. I think the most important element is the distance, and for people to make sure that they look around and make sure there is no one within eight feet of you. I think the most important thing is the distance.

“You won’t be allowed inside the gym if you have the sniffles. You just won’t be allowed admittance into the gym under those conditions. Everything is going to be stepped up. We have had an 80 percent increase in our sanitisation stations, and the areas where we have the bottles and sprays where you clean down your machines, everything has been increased by more than double. Every ten feet we have stations.”

Dr Kent Bazard, owner of Empire Fitnes, said: “This is absolutely good news. I don’t think we needed to be closed for so long to be honest. We sent a proposal from the beginning of the Phase two reopening from the Gym Owners Association that we were prepared to reopen.

“We sent a list of recommended protocols, and we requested a meeting with government, but we never got it. I understood they did receive our communication and I hope that they looked at what we recommended and made some decision based on that. We’re definitely ready to open. It has been three months, and we are absolutely ready to go.”

Dr Bazard said he was unsure about the COVID-19 health protocols that the Government has settled upon, but said they likely focused on “managing entry into the facilities and, of course, maintaining social distancing. For example, if the gym has a foyer from the outside to the foyer inside, we recommended a number be allowed on the gym floors based on the size of the gym.

“Some gyms have a dance studio or a fitness studio and some gyms don’t. For those gyms that have a fitness studio we recommended a maximum 20 persons per class, temperature checks at the door, hand sanitisation and cleaning the machines.”

Dr Bazard added: “But, just to be frank, gyms have always done this type of stuff and that is why we proposed to open at Phase two. We have always been practicing cleanliness, because we are constantly fighting germs and different bacteria and conducting contract tracing. We are always aware of this in the gym.

“So managing COVID-19 is a part of our industry, and it is something we are prepared for. That is why we said we could open and manage this properly. We wanted to communicate to the COVID-19 committee so we can have some dialogue and work out how this can be done, but a decision was made without much interaction with the Government authorities so we don’t know what to expect.”