Gyms and other indoor sporting facilities may become eligible for financial assistance after struggling to keep their doors open as memberships dwindle in response to COVID-19 restrictions.
COVID-19 regulations in place for gyms since September 2021 require people entering the facilities to present proof of vaccination, or a negative PCR test result every two days, which costs $75 each.
Gym members or owners contravening those rules could find themselves subject to a $10,000 fine and/or two years in prison, if convicted.
“I expect before the expiry date of these particular regulations, we will be looking at some additional changes which we will try to assist the various businesses that are impacted by previous regulations,” Premier Wayne Panton told the Cayman Compass on Thursday, 20 Jan., after the most recent government press briefing.
The current regulations expire on 15 April.
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As of January 2022, the UK has allowed contact sport activities to resume full training and competitions for adults and children both indoors and outdoors without proof of vaccination.
Panton has now said that gyms which have been adversely affect by COVID may qualify for a government stipend.
A stipend programme already in place has been “typically geared towards the tourism industry”, Panton said, but he added that if the current COVID protocols which are having a negative impact on gyms are maintained, “we will have a look at the possibility of implementing a support programme like that”.
The Compass previously reported on the backlash against the regulations from gym owners, who described them as ‘unrealistic’ and ‘biased’, and questioned why requirements for vaccination proof and negative COVID tests were in place for sporting facilities, but not for bars, clubs and those hosting social events.
Kings Sports Centre CEO Rex Ebanks recently told the Compass that his business, like many others, continues to suffer “because of the government regulations”.
Panton said he would be discussing this issue “to make some changes to improve and mitigate the impacts on those businesses”.
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No mention of the dive operators, don’t they have any “influence”?. They have certainly complained about the loss of business, the gyms aren’t the only ones suffering.