Gyms in Noida reopen, members being urged to get vaccinated

Noida: Gyms and wellness centres in the city, which reopened on Monday after over two months, witnessed a decent footfall on day one with owners urging the members to get vaccinated before visiting the centres

Noida: Gyms and wellness centres in the city, which reopened on Monday after over two months, witnessed a decent footfall on day one with owners urging the members to get vaccinated before visiting the centres.

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The gym managers and owners said that while they are following all Covid-19 protocols, they will be working on slots to ensure their centres are not overcrowded.

“The day was quite encouraging as a number of members showed up. This time we are ensuring that all our members are vaccinated. The good thing is that about 80% members have received their first dose. We will keep reminding those who have not received the Covid-19 vaccine yet,” said Rajiv Kumar Pathak, who manages Gold’s Gym centres at sectors 30 and 104.

Pathak further said that they are also urging the members to get their slots for workout. “It’s important to ensure the floor is not crowded. So, we are giving slots to the members and ensuring that not more than 30 of them are there at a time,” he added.

According to Ankur Arora of La Fitness in Sector 18, the members are willing to visit the fitness centre.

“A number of members have been vaccinated. On the first day, the strength was about one third of what we used to get before the Covid curfew. We are receiving a number of calls from our members who have recently recovered from Covid. We have asked them that if they are feeling weak, then they should take rest before resuming the workout,” said Arora.

Fearing the possibility of a third wave of Covid-19, some gym owners said that they are trying to encourage the members by making up for their lost membership days.

“It’s a very good response for the first day. Though we have suffered losses due to the lockdown, we are encouraging our members by compensating for lost days on memberships,” said Nupur, who runs a branch of Anytime Fitness in Sector 77.

Deepa Ahuja, who operates two centres of Anytime Fitness in sectors 48 and 104, said that they have extended the membership of their customers by two months. “Our businesses have suffered, but we are trying our best to make it up for our customers,” said Ahuja.

The gyms and wellness centres had been closed since April 30 when the partial Covid curfew was imposed in Gautam Budh Nagar following the second wave of Covid-19. While the restrictions were gradually lifted from June 7 after the active cases in the district went below 600, the gyms had been asked to remain closed.

Poonam Bishnoi, district sports officer, GB Nagar, said that the swimming pools will remain closed till further orders. “The gyms will have to remain closed on the weekends,” Bishnoi said.

Last year, the gyms in Noida were closed from March 15 to June 10, about 10 days before the nationwide lockdown kicked in on March 25.