A RENMARK gym owner says he will “keep positive and keep going” despite the severe disruption to his business caused by the reinstatement of COVID-19 restrictions this week.
Under the new direction issued by the State Government, gyms and recreation centres across the state have been forced to close, community sport has been cancelled, and restrictions on crowd sizes have been tightened, after a cluster of new cases emerged in Adelaide.
Outdoor fitness activities are allowed to continue.
Renmark-based Fusion Health Club owner Dally Nijjar, who has moved classes at his gym outside, said despite being “slightly gutted” by the new restrictions, he and his staff members were “thinking of the positives”.
“We’ve already been through this and we’re hoping it is just a short-term response, as the Government has stated,” he said.
“We had to move from inside to outside overnight, and we’ve also already built systems so we can do a lot more online training.
“It doesn’t end for us – we just keep going and that is the best way to keep moving forward.”
Mr Nijjar said it was a “shock” to here that he would have to close his business for the second time this year.
“Steven Marshall made the announcement at about 3.30pm on Monday and we were still running the gym until midnight,” he said.
“It was slightly disappointing because (for example) you can still go to hospitality businesses and play the pokies…
“I haven’t seen any proof of community transmission at gyms in South Australia… so it just seems like it’s a bit of a cop out to me.
“But we knew what to do straight away and we already had a back-up plan. Most businesses these days need to make sure they have these contingency plans.
“We want safety to be first, but if there was a bit more communication it would be a lot easier.”
Mr Nijjar predicted his health club would lose 50 per cent of its membership for the next two weeks, but that the business was “pretty well covered” to deal with the loss of revenue from members.
Despite the disruption, Mr Nijjar said he understood and respected the State Government’s decision.
“You could have had a bit more of a focused response, but I get why they’ve done it this way,” he said.
“It just takes one person leaving the bubble, and you never know if they will come to Renmark.
“We do have travellers who use our gym sometimes and we’ve been serving the police since they’ve been in the Riverland at the border checkpoints.
“We’ve just got to make sure everyone is safe and well, and we have to keep it positive and keep going.”