A West Kelowna gym has joined companies refusing to adhere to BC’s COVID-19 restrictions, despite the fact that case numbers continue to skyrocket in the province.
Iron Energy Gym announced on social media Monday that it will reopen despite provincial orders that personal fitness facilities must not be closed until January 18 at the earliest.
“WE ARE OPEN!” reads a post on the gym’s Facebook page. “We’ll play our turn and wait to see what happens next.”
The company also encouraged members to bring their phones and be ready to record any government employees who may arrive to enforce BC public health regulations.
“When someone shows up in OUR GYM and tries to shut us down, we want it to be JUMPED all over the Internet,” the post says.
CTV News reached out to Iron Energy Gym for more information about its plans and to Interior Health and the City of West Kelowna for a response on the company’s decision.
Last week, Health Minister Adrian Dix said the latest COVID-19 measures will be enforced if necessary.
“We will move, as we did during the entire pandemic, to enforce these orders,” Dix said at a press conference on Friday. “We don’t want to take enforcement action because we’re honestly busy. We want people to obey the rules and we expect them to do so. “
It is unclear whether any action has been taken against defiant companies.
Many gym owners have opposed the closure orders from Provincial Health Commissioner Dr. Bonnie Henry spoke out last month, arguing that her industry is being wrongly targeted.
“It’s not fair for restaurants to be open and gyms to be closed,” said Brian Mark, co-owner of Iron Energy Gym, on Instagram this week. “We’re staying open because it’s not fair for malls to be open and gyms to be closed, and I think it’s time all of BC’s gyms are (swear) right.”
On Monday, Ontario followed BC’s lead by forcing fitness facilities to close and went a step further by banning on-site dining and limiting indoor social gatherings to a maximum of five people.
Experts disagreed on whether BC should increase restrictions or simply enforce those that already exist, but an independent group of doctors and researchers have called for a three-week breaker to bring COVID-19 transmission under control.
Protect our Province BC has predicted that every industry will face a 20 to 30 percent staff shortage if more is not done to slow the spread of the Omicron variant.
