Some Gyms in S’pore Are Closing Despite Them Not Affected By New Measures

The start of the coronavirus outbreak raised many uncertainties.

Everyday we ask ourselves if there will be enough toilet paper at NTUC tomorrow, or if Singapore will go into lockdown.

But for some gym members, the question was, is it still safe to go to the gym?

And the other was, will they be allowed to suspend their membership in light of the coronavirus outbreak?

Some Gyms in S’pore Are Closing Despite Them Not Affected By New Measures

Multiple gym and yoga studios have announced that they would be closing their outlets.

This came after the Government announced that there would be stricter safe distancing measures to prevent further spread of the coronavirus.

As of Thursday, at least four fitness chains have announced that they would be closing their outlets all over Singapore.

This includes Fitness First, Virgin Active, Yoga Movement, Pure Yoga and Pure Fitness.

Gyms Aren’t Directly Affected By New Measures

The multi-ministry task force that is spearheading the fight against the COVID-19 had announced on Tuesday that all gatherings outside of work and school should be limited to a maximum of 10 people.

However, National Development Minister Lawrence Wong, who co-chairs the task force, said gyms and yoga studios wouldn’t need to close unless they were found to breach the safe distancing measures.

Fitness First took to Facebook on Thursday to share with its members that all its outlets will close temporarily starting from the end of business hours on 26 Mar 2020, Thursday.

It has plans to reopen on 1 May. Membership will also be frozen from 27 March to 30 April.

“This temporary closure is subject to review based on the health advisories issued by MOH,” said Fitness First.

“Should there be an extension on the closure period, we will review this and make the necessary adjustments to best support our members during this time.”

Further, Fitness First will also be launching a virtual group fitness class which will be accessible via their social media pages.

Virgin Active also announced on social media that it will be closing all six of its clubs beginning 10.30pm on Wednesday until 30 April. The company will also be freezing membership with no membership fees charged “for as long as the clubs are closed”.

Virgin Active also has online workouts available on its MyLocker digital platform.

On the other hand, Yoga Movement’s six studios will be closed from 27 March to 30 April, according to a post on its website.

“We feel it’s best to let the world cleanse itself for a month,” said the company, adding it will be “deep cleaning our studios” and giving them an overhaul during the period.

They will be offering a two-month extension on its class packs.

Pure Yoga and Pure Fitness have closed all their outlets for 14 days until 9 April and said that they will “deep clean” these locations during this period.

All cardholders will receive a 14-day membership suspension from 27 March to 9 April which they will not have to pay for.

Amore Fitness will also temporarily close the usage of all its class and gym facilities beginning Friday, while memberships will automatically be suspended and reinstated on 1 May.

Not All Gyms Are Closing

But not all gyms are closing and some said that they would remain open but will abide by the safe distancing measures.

For instance, Absolute Cycle took to Facebook to share that it would be reducing the class size for each class, but that they would be launching more classes.

On the other hand, Yoga studio The Faculty will be reducing the number of students per class to as little as six.

While fitness is important to upkeep especially during this period, it’s also important to practice social distancing and to avoid crowded places whenever possible.

Thus, the initiative taken by these gyms is commendable.