SUNRAYSIA residents might have to wait a little longer to get back to the gym, despite Victorian Premier Daniel Andrews announcing on Thursday indoor fitness facilities could reopen from Saturday.
With Victoria primed to hit the 70 per cent first dose target on Friday, Mr Andrews was prompted to announce some new freedoms on Thursday.
From 11.59pm Friday, gyms and indoor pools in regional Victoria can reopen with limits, and hydrotherapy and swimming lessons can go ahead. Spas, saunas and steam rooms will not reopen.
Indoor pools can have up to 20 people and 50 can swim in outdoor pools, while indoor physical recreation facilities, such as gyms, can open with 10 people.
Mildura Waves will reopen its indoor pool and gym from Saturday morning.
Manager Caitlin Simmons said it would be “first come first served until we reach capacity”, but encouraged people to call the centre ahead of their visit.
But Mildura’s Club Aquarius gyms are likely to stay shut for the time being, as owner John Hollywood said 10 people “wouldn’t even keep the lights on” in his venues.
“It’s not a viable option for us,” he said, comparing Club Aquarius to large pubs and restaurants who also opted to stay closed this week in the face of harsh capacity limits.
“I don’t mind opening and not making any money, but I don’t want to open and lose money. It doesn’t make sense.
“It might suit a little studio type or a functional training centre, but certainly not big box gyms like us.”
Mr Hollywood called on the government to bring back the one person per four square metre density limits gyms had previously operated under, rather than force them to open to “one per cent of our usual clientele”.
“If it goes back to our old regulations … we can operate within that,” he said.
“Fifteenth Street is one of the biggest 24-hour clubs in country Australia. It’s licensed for 450 people at any one time … we certainly can’t survive with 10 people at a time.”
Meanwhile in locked-down Melbourne and Ballarat, outdoor social interaction has been added to the list of reasons to leave home, the time permitted for exercise and outside social interaction will increase from two hours to four, and the travel radius will increase to 10km.
“While these are modest changes, today is a positive day and sign of things to come for Victorians once we get our double dose vaccination rates up,” Mr Andrews said.
A full table of restrictions is available here.
