LISMORE MP Janelle Saffin has welcomed news that gymnasiums, yoga, indoor pools and dance studios on the Northern Rivers and Northern Tablelands can reopen from 13 June as more COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
Ms Saffin also welcomed a NSW Government announcement that kids’ sport can resume in her Electorate of Lismore from 1 July, but is still pushing for a ‘return to play’ plan for adult sport to give certainty to local community sporting organisations.
From 13 June, the following will be allowed:
- Fitness, gymnasiums, pilates, yoga and dance studios can reopen with up to 10 people per class and 100 people in an indoor venue;
- Community centres, including their recreational facilities, can reopen;
- Some indoor recreational facilities, including pools and saunas can also reopen with restricted numbers
- Tattoo and massage parlours can reopen with up to 10 clients.
The four-square-metre rule of social distancing must be applied at all times.
From 1 July, indoor and outdoor community sport competitions can restart for those participants aged 18 years and under.
Ms Saffin said she agreed with NSW Health Minister Brad Hazzard’s observation that COVID-19 safety plans for each activity or sport would be critical to a successful re-start.
“It is important that we do not undo all the good work we have achieved in flattening the curve of this virus during the ‘lockdown’,” Ms Saffin said.
“The great majority of us have been following the health advice and we must continue to do so for our own health and wellbeing and that of others, particularly vulnerable people.
“This will mean that sporting organisations, businesses and local councils (which manage many of these facilities) will all need to do things a little differently than in pre-COVID-19 times.
“I urge individuals and families who have specific questions about the resumption of their sport to contact their local sporting organisation or respective sport’s governing body for guidance.”
While Ms Saffin appreciated that the NSW Government’s COVID-19 recovery plan was built around health advice, she could see no impediments to reintroducing adult community sporting competitions sooner rather than later.
Friday, 5 July 2020.
