Gyms have been closed in Maharashtra’s Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Navi Mumbai and other regions since March 13, 2020, even before the first lockdown began.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray had announced the decision to shut down all gyms and other such institutions in in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai, Pune, Pimpri Chincwad and Nagpur.
Gyms are considered ‘high risk’ locations due to sweat and dampness to heighten the spreading of germs.
After that PM Modi had announced that there would be a lockdown from March 25, making it the world’s largest.
The lockdown was extended to May 3 on April 14, which included the following:
Ban on people from stepping out of their homes
All services and shops closed except pharmacies, hospitals, banks, grocery shops and other essential services
Closure of commercial and private establishments (only work-from-home allowed)
Suspension of all educational, training, research institutions
Closure of all places of worship
Suspension of all non-essential public and private transport
Prohibition of all social, political, sports, entertainment, academic, cultural, religious activities
Later on, the Ministry of Home Affairs issued a set of guidelines for lockdown 2.0 which included the closure of:
All educational, training institution etc. shall remain closed, taxis, including auto & cycle rickshaws, and services of cab aggregators to remain prohibited. Cinema halls, malls, shopping/sports complexes, gyms, swimming pools, theatres, bars etc to remain closed till May 3.
All social, political, sports, religious functions, religious places, places of worship shall be closed for public till May 3, it said.
Spitting in public has been made a punishable offence and a strict ban enforced on sale of liquor, gutka, tobacco etc. under the new guidelines.
The MHA instructed state and union territory governments shall not dilute lockdown guidelines in any manner; may impose stricter measures as per local requirements.
The nation-wide lockdown is aimed to contain the spread of the pandemic that has killed over 370 people and infected over 11,000 in the country.
This means that gyms will continue be closed in the near future, including post lockdown 2.0 so fitness enthusiasts would be better off figuring out how to stay in shape at home.
