SIBU, May 23: The government has been told to consider allowing gyms to reopen as statistics have shown that the increase in Covid-19 cases is not necessarily linked to this establishment.
According to the proprietor of Solid Gym, Lau Kah Yii, in the one month of closure of gyms here from April 22, there was a sharp increase in Covid-19 cases.
“Throughout the past one month, we were seeing sharp increase in Covid-19 cases. This shows gyms are not necessarily the cause of Covid-19 spread, and should not be selectively picked as a most likely contributor to the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
Lau pointed out that from the facts and figures, it was quite obvious that festive celebrations can be a major cause of the increasing number of Covid-19 cases.
Sibu Divisional Disaster Management Committee coordinator Dr Annuar Rapaee in his live Facebook stream on Saturday said the recent spike in cases was attributed to house visitation during the Raya and too much of human traffic, adding from May 20 to 22, the number of cases were in three-digit.
On May 20, a total of 120 new cases were reported, 108 the next day and 125 on May 22.
Lau wondered when gyms will be allowed to reopen.
“One whole month has lapsed and we still have no clue when gyms are allowed to reopen. The current CMCO is scheduled to end on June 7. Whether gyms are allowed to reopen depends on the Covid-19 situation by then,” he pondered.
Overall, he lamented that gym operators have already suffered much, with many not expected to survive.
Thus the government should consider some ways to help the gyms, like subsidising the cost such as helping with 50 per cent of the rental, he said.
He added that the pressure on gym operators is mounting by the day and they are urgently requiring the government to step in. — DayakDaily
