Quebec's Ministry Of Health Confirmed Red Zone Gym Owners Can Film Workouts In Their Gyms
On November 13, MTL Blog reported that gym owners in Quebec red zones were confused as they tried to navigate government regulations around COVID-19 rules. The main questions were whether they could continue training clients one-on-one and whether they could film online workouts alone in their gyms.
At the time of publication, the province's Ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux (MSSS) had not responded to our request for comment.
However, on November 14, Marjorie Larouche — a spokesperson for the MSSS — answered one of the two questions: gym owners can film online workouts alone in their private establishments, according to Quebec's public health decree, she said.Â
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An owner could record, alone, a physical training session for broadcasting on the web, while respecting sanitary measures. This would be in keeping with the government's intention.
Marjorie Larouche, a spokesperson for the MSSS, in a statement to MTL Blog
She also clarified that, according to ministerial decrees, the premises are not required to be closed. Rather, the activities carried out there are suspended.Â
This means the owner is allowed access.Â
"The owner must be allowed access to check, for example, that everything is in order in the physical training room, if only for insurance purposes," she said.
This also means clients can access physical training rooms for activities that are not suspended, such as to see a physiotherapist or for a consult with a kinesiologist.
"The objective of the measure [is] to avoid the regrouping of several people in the same place," Larouche told MTL Blog.Â
For Clarence Emile, co-owner of Centre U Fit, the government's gym rules contradict the fact that retail stores remain open in Quebec red zones.
"We see that malls are still open at full capacity [...] so what's the difference between [...] one-on-one [training] and somebody going to the mall?" he said.
But with this clarification from the ministry, he said he can at least resume filming workouts for online classes in his gym.Â
"We're going to continue doing our online classes," he said. "Our clients  [...] need motivation."Â
