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MANILA – The safety seal should work as an option for gym operators to expand their capacity rather than a requirement for fitness centers to reopen their business, the top trade official said Monday.
In a Palace briefing, Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez said he will appeal to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to allow gyms and fitness clubs to restart their operation at 20-percent capacity even without the safety seal.
He said this request aims to help gym operators to immediately bring back their economic activities and some 22,000 jobs in the sector.
Last week, the IATF allowed gyms and fitness clubs to reopen as long as they have secured the safety seal, a good housekeeping badge issued by the government that serves as a proof that the establishment complies with the minimum health protocols.
“We shall be requesting that this will be voluntary also,” Lopez said.
Lopez proposes that prior to securing the safety seal, all gyms and fitness clubs can operate at 20-percent capacity.
If these establishments already secured the good housekeeping seal, they will be allowed to expand their capacity up to 30 percent, or an additional 10 percentage points, he said.
The local government unit is the approving government body for gym and fitness clubs under the safety seal certification program.
Lopez said allowing the immediate resumption of gyms and fitness centers also reduces the bureaucracy by making the safety seal application voluntary.
“Gyms are essential especially for our physical (wellness) and fitness,” he said, adding this sector is one of the last to open due to its indoor operation and higher risk of contracting the virus because of equipment sharing.
Lopez said the industry has presented its strict minimum health protocols to avoid outbreak in gyms and fitness clubs.
The IATF has closed gym operations since the National Capital Region and four nearby provinces were reverted to enhanced community quarantine in March. (PNA)
