Gyms could open next month as athletes condemn closures
POOLS, gyms and leisure centres could reopen by the end of July, the Government said yesterday after leisure bosses accused them of ‘ignoring the health of the nation’.
Britain’s top Olympians condemned delays to the reopening of pools and gyms.
Tanni Grey-Thompson, who won 11 Paralympic golds for Britain, yesterday warned Boris Johnson that more than 2,800 sporting facilities were at risk of closure costing 100,000 jobs.
In a letter to the Prime Minister she said that many in the industry had ‘lost faith’ in the Government’s strategy. Baroness Grey-Thompson, who chairs the leisure industry body ukactive, said: ‘To lose these facilities in the midst of the biggest health crisis could set back public health for a generation.’
She said safety plans submitted to the Government by the leisure industry on May 4 were all but ignored.
Leisure industry bosses yesterday challenged the Government to explain why pubs and restaurants have been deemed suitable for reopening but fitness centres have not.
Four-time Olympic medal winner Rebecca Adlington said it was ‘incredibly disappointing to see swimming neglected by Boris Johnson’.
World record holder Adam Peaty, who won two Olympic swimming medals in 2016, described the decision to keep pools shut as ‘mad’.
Business Secretary Alok Sharma yesterday said leisure facilities could open ‘at some point later on in July’ if certain health tests are met, including the R rate staying below one.
Mark Sesnan, managing director of GLL which operates 270 local authority leisure centres, said the decision ‘defied logic’ and the Government was ‘ignoring the health of the nation’.