Gyms to Reopen on May 17

According to the Czech Chamber of Fitness, the government will allow the operation of indoor sports facilities under a special regime from May 17, affirmed Chamber president Jana Havrdová.

The information also follows from the directive of the Ministry of Health.

The ministers did not mention the fitness centres reopening at the press conference after the government meeting yesterday. It was stated, however, in the resolution published later

Gyms will open with a number of restrictions:

• the presence of more sportsmen than 1 per 15 square meters of the indoor area of a sports ground is not allowed,
• there must be no more than 2 people in a group and 10 people in total in a sports venue,
• all individuals present have to submit a negative test for COVID-19 (PCR, antigen, or self-test) not older than 48 hours OR a certificate of vaccination OR confirmation that they have contracted the virus no longer than three months prior,
• visitors must maintain a distance of at least 2 meters,
• changing rooms and showers remain closed.

There is no clarity with the mask regime in sports venues. Details will be announced soon.

Havrdová called this decision “light at the end of the tunnel”, which will at least allow small gyms to open. That being said, she is also going to clarify what government means by a “sports ground” and, if necessary, demand an increase in the limit for simultaneously present sportsmen on gyms premises.

“In the coming days, we will try to ask [the government] for an adjustment of the maximum capacity of 10 people at one sports ground and to clearly define what a sports ground is. In the case of large establishments with an area of several thousand square meters, this condition would logically make neither organizational nor economic sense, and for many gyms, it would still not mean opening. We believe that the government will reconsider its decision so that the presence of the public in our premises will only be limited by area,” Havrdová said.

Besides gyms, facilities like playgrounds, skating rinks, courts, boxing rings, bowling, billiard rooms, training facilities, and dance studios will be allowed to resume operating.

The directive does not apply to swimming pools, wellness centres, and saunas. They will remain closed to the general public.

President of the Czech Chamber of Fitness wants to change that, too. “Another change that we are discussing and which we perceive as completely risk-free from the point of view of the pandemic, is the opening of private wellness centres. These are spaces defined as a strictly closed and separate area (sauna or bath) with a maximum capacity of 2-4 people from one family or one social bubble, where clients never meet with each other during the entire period of service, including changing clothes,” Havrdová averred.