How Safe Are Our Indoor Training Facilities Really

Although I'm fully aware that there are still people who consider covid-19 to be a joke, **** news or an exaggerated cold, the defiant selfishness of people who refuse to wear masks is nevertheless alarming.

Many of the current rules and regulations under adjusted-Lockdown-3 do make sense, but it baffles the mind that gyms are still allowed to operate. As an avid gym-goer myself, I am appalled at the blatant disregard of protocols displayed by patrons and staff alike at the Planet Fitness Gym in Umhlanga I still visit in spite of my misgivings.

For the last 2 weeks I have witnessed patrons and staff moving around the gym without their masks. I am fully aware that masks must be removed during vigorous exercise, but the current rules also state that masks must be worn on entering the gym and on moving between stations. If and when you ask staff or patrons to please wear their masks, you are told to leave if you don't feel safe. The manager has also been informed, as it tends to be the same patrons and staff who flagrantly disregard the rules, but there isn't always a manager on duty. It also seems as if the same patrons and staff are now out to provoke.

The spraybottles of cleaning fluid that are placed at some exercise stations definitely do not contain alcohol, with the dispensers containing alcohol limited to the entrance/exit. As it is a gym with a relatively small square footage, the number of patrons allowed in sometimes make maintaining social distance impossible.

After numerous phone calls to the Planet Fitness Call Centre, I am sadly now considering terminating my membership, all because of a few inconsiderate, delusional members of the public. Why is it so difficult for some to just follow the rules? Is this happening in other indoor training facilities? Are our local authorities aware of this?