Coronavirus, gyms and swimming pools towards reopening? Assumptions given: January 18 or 25, or February 1

The alarm cry of Duregon, President of ANIF: “The sector tested down to now is at the end, on the brink of the precipice. Let’s save this universe and give back to the 20 million Italians the right to sport ”. The hypothesized dates: 18 or 25 January, or 1 February

The Prime Ministerial Decree of 25 October has stopped this important sector that continues to keep the lights out. One quarter in spring, the other quarter is about to end in end of January, there 25. A terrible year for sport. In October stop gyms and swimming pools after the surge in summer infections, it seemed the magic formula to be able to turn on the Christmas lights in December. The choice did not bear the expected results: the party lights lit up intermittently, the fitness rooms, sports centers, swimming pools continue to remain closed. And many will never reopen. There close on sport Sunday arrived October 25 at lunchtime and has never let go of it ever since. So after having adjusted, fought, hoped, tried every card, the structures were closed, the staff left at home. Gigantic price, very high, a bill to pay that becomes more salty every day, a vast sector of workers left without work. Important numbers in this important sector 1 million of insiders e 20 million citizens who attends the centers, who tried and hoped to bring back to the gym in September 30/35% of users who after the first March lockdown and after the summer he had not yet returned. Now after the second lockout, we will have to start from scratch, assuming we can start again.

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But why if gyms and swimming pools have respected the rules, have adapted to what is required, guaranteed safety, have been closed and never reopened? “The sport it is well-being, activity is health, help for body and mind: it raises the immune system and fights important diseases such as heart disease, diabetes – explains Giampaolo Duregon, President Anif (National Association of Sport and Fitness Facilities) which it represents100,000 centers sportsmen. Those who play sports are already aware and observant of the rules. They didn’t listen to us in October, the latest DPCM sounded like one definitive sentence despite the strict protocols applied since May and the controls with positive results of ASL and NAS. When they made us close, no gym, swimming pool, sports center had ever been an outbreak of infection. The incidence numbers were very low, below’1 per thousand. But now we finally have a vaccine, the contagion will slowly diminish, we will be able to calmly resume our lives. Reopening the Sports Centers, gyms, swimming pools, will represent the gradual return to normality. Hopefully in the next15 days, even with the limitations of October, millions of adolescents, the elderly, people with pathologies that need movement, an active life can be set off again and brought back to sport. They are assumed to be Monday reopening dates 18 or Monday 25 January, but also on Monday February 1st: we count on it and we hope for it. Because the problem is serious not only from the point of view of health: financially it is exhausted. Whereas the economic flow in the sports centers is of 12 billion a year, in the 6 months of lockdown the loss is 6 billion euro: a financial massacre. Sports center owners are undertaking one class action in order to reopen, there are centers that have reopened and have received fines. We as an association, come ANIF, we want to restart with the legislative consent, in total compliance with the rules. We hope in these three hypothetical dates, we are continuing to ask for subsidies, which are completely insufficient, but which in any case remove the specter of closure. We are also working on the Sport Reform, which had already been approved for some time, so as to ensure a correct restart. It is important that the institutions understand that opening is necessary: ​​we wait for the government to decree it as soon as possible, for the Minister of Sport Spadafora, always attentive and sensitive to the needs of the sector, can make the goal possible “.

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