MP wants gyms open ‘as soon as possible’
SPORTS VENUES HELP US STAY HEALTHY AND OUT OF HOSPITAL
AN MP says she is “very keen” for gyms and sports venues to reopen as soon as possible.
Jane Hunt, MP for Loughborough, had previously spoken during a parliamentary debate to urge that there should be a risk assessment of individual sporting or physical activity venues, rather than a blanket ban.
She also called for “gyms and other sporting facilities and activities to start from a presumption of staying open unless their particular circumstances mean that this is unsafe”.
Speaking after the announcement of the third national lockdown, she said: “I have spoken in several debates asking for gyms and swimming pools both to reopen and to remain open over recent months.
“My view has not changed and I am very keen for gyms and swimming pools to reopen as soon as possible.
“Sadly, this cannot happen at the moment, again going back to why we are doing all of this.
“We need to keep people out of hospital suffering from Covid.
“To do that we need to get the R rate down, to do that we need to keep meetings of any kind to a minimum and that means staying at home where we possibly can.”
Constituents from various backgrounds have contacted Ms Hunt to ask for gyms and sporting facilities to reopen as soon as possible, she said.
The Conservative MP expressed her thanks for people’s efforts to comply with the Covid-19 rules.
She said: “We were doing very well in getting the numbers of new Covid cases down until the new variant came along and that is shown in the figures.
“I can understand that some people may be frustrated about the national lockdown. However, all of the restrictions have been put in place to ensure fewer people move to our intensive care beds in hospitals.
“To do that we need to get the R rate below 1 and to do that we need to stay at home and not spread the virus.
“That is why this national lockdown has been put in place.
“If I could please ask people to persevere and stick to the rules of the national lockdown.
“The sooner we get the rate of infection down, the sooner we can lift the restrictions.
“Vaccinations are in progress and there is a light at the end of the tunnel. Please let’s keep everyone healthy.
“I watched the 10 o’clock news and saw that the number of deaths had exceeded 75,000 nationally.
“This made the number of deaths really hit home.
“75,000 people is, roughly speaking, a whole constituency of voters.
“That’s every voter in Loughborough, in Shepshed and in my villages. All of them.
“It focuses the mind on just how many people have died.”