Gyms not worried about entry rules, most members vaccinated
Stricter vaccination-differentiated rules are set to take effect tomorrow, but gym owners whom The Straits Times spoke to are taking the latest measures in their stride, saying that they are not worried as most of their members are fully vaccinated.
From tomorrow, only vaccinated individuals will be allowed into shopping malls - which also house a number of gyms - and standalone stores that are not supermarkets.
Those who have recovered from Covid-19 or have a valid negative pre-event test (PET) result are also allowed in.
Some people, such as Ms Teri Ong, who operates Anytime Fitness clubs at Northpoint City, Nex and HillV2, have already implemented segregation for vaccinated and unvaccinated members.
SEPARATE AREA
When mask-off, high-intensity activities were allowed to resume indoors after phase two (heightened alert) measures were eased, only fully vaccinated members were allowed into these fitness clubs.
Unvaccinated members had to provide a negative PET test to be able to enter the gyms, and a separate area was marked out for them to do their workouts.
Ms Ong, 52, welcomed the new rules, saying: "The majority of our members got themselves vaccinated, and when you are in an environment where everyone is vaccinated, you feel like you are safe."
True Group has introduced a rule mandating that only members who are fully vaccinated - and those who produce a negative PET test - will be allowed into its 10 branches as these are located in malls.
It had adopted a phased approach to allowing mask-off activities in its outlets to give members the time to receive the full regimen of their vaccines.
True Group and Anytime Fitness have given unvaccinated members the option of freezing memberships for the time being.
Others, such as fitness and martial arts studio Neue Fit at Kallang Wave Mall, also conduct outdoor classes, although co-founder Grace Huang said most of the unvaccinated members are waiting to receive their full regimen before returning.
Before the latest measures were announced, the studio had classes for mask-on activities that were open to all and mask-off classes for vaccinated individuals, which she estimated made up about 97 per cent to 98 per cent of the members.
Ms Huang said: "Now, we can't do it because they won't be able to come into the malls. I personally don't want to force it but unfortunately because of the situation, we will be able to run only fully vaccinated classes. As people are transitioning into vaccinations, some will be affected for the next couple of weeks.
"I am just grateful that we weren't asked to close again or the measures weren't tightened again because we have really borne the brunt of it this year with gym closures."
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