GREASBY/LONDON (UK) – One gym owner in the northwest of England thinks that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s latest round of curbs to fight the pandemic is a step too far. In order to salvage his business, he has defied the order to close down, along with dozens of others in the area.
Governments across the world have imposed some of the most severe restrictions in peacetime history to tackle the coronavirus, to varying degrees of success. The virus has killed more than a million people and Europe is deep in a second wave.
The measures have also pushed many companies, and in some cases whole sectors, out of business. Some feel ignored and are starting to push back against the rules.
“We’re supposed to be closed but we are open,” Chris Ellerby-Hemmings, 36, owner of EmpoweredFit Gym in Greasby, near Liverpool, said.
He said 50 other gyms across the area were also staying open – an open show of defiance against the British government around 240 miles south in London.
Under a new tiered system which kicks off on Wednesday, Liverpool and the surrounding Merseyside area are classed as “very high” risk, meaning they are subject to the some of the strictest lockdown measures in England, including shutting pubs, gyms and casinos.
British government scientific advisers say the virus, which emerged in China last year, is spreading fast across all parts of the United Kingdom and that critical care beds are starting to fill up with COVID-19 patients in high risk areas.
But Ellerby-Hemmings of EmpoweredFit said the rules appeared irrational as COVID-19 transmission was lower in gyms while restaurants, which he said have a higher transmission rate, have been allowed to stay open.
“The government has presented no evidence as to why we should close – they have just done it irrationally,” said Ellerby-Hemmings, who closed the gym during the first national lockdown from March 25 to July 25.
“If we did close again, because we have taken on a lot of debt, we would not be able to reopen. The staff would lose their jobs and I would lose my business,” he said.
Ellerby-Hemmings said gyms were essential to keep people fit, fight obesity and improve mental health.