NSW restrictions: June 1 signals new rules, but gyms will still be closed

Today signals a number of rules lifting in NSW, but gyms and cinemas are among the venues still closed. Here’s why.

Today signals the long-awaited lifting of the next round of coronavirus restrictions around New South Wales, with Premier Gladys Berejiklian saying she hoped the state’s residents were starting to return to something resembling “normal”.

Ms Berejiklian welcomed today’s relaxation of the rules – which include increased capacity at cafes, bars and restaurants and more attendees welcome at weddings and funerals – though warned businesses and their customers to continue practising social distancing.

“It comes with rules,” the Premier told 2GB’s new morning host Ben Fordham this morning.

“We expect both the customers but also the people managing those businesses to keep things COVID-Safe.”

Ms Berejiklian said that while some of the measures in place at these reopened venues might seem “trivial”, “what we don’t want to see, which is a risk, is businesses shutting down again”.

While the easing of these measures is no doubt exciting news, many business owners and NSW residents are waiting to hear when the likes of gyms, cinemas and tattoo parlours will be up and running again.

Here’s when you can expect to return to your local dance class or catch a movie – and why these venues remain closed.

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GYMS

The NSW government are facing mounting pressure to reopen the state’s 1500 gyms – or at least to set a date for when it can be expected.

While other states were quick to set a date for when their gyms would reopen, Ms Berejiklian said last Monday there was no time frame for gyms to reopen in the “foreseeable future” because of their “health risk”, angering gym owners across the state.

“The protocols we have put in place which we have developed for the industry – with Safe Work Australia and medical people – I believe will make it safer than a lot of other environments currently open," CEO of Australia’s peak fitness body Fitness Australia, Barrie Elvish, said on the Today show, calling the decision as “mind-boggling”.

A NSW Health spokesman, however, said “intense physical exercise in densely populated sports facilities could increase risk of infection”, referring to the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention for evidence of a COVID-19 transmission in gyms.

For the more than 27,000 fitness enthusiasts and gym owners across the state who have signed a petition to lift the restrictions, the wait to return to gyms may finally be over soon.

Speaking on 2GB this morning, the Premier indicated an announcement on gyms would come this week.

“We’re working through the list, and can I be so bold as to suggest that we’ll be saying something publicly about that this week,” Ms Berejiklian said.

“There’s two things that we want to say something about in the near future, and that’s children’s community sport, but also gyms and dance studios and the like.

“You’ll have a clear indication of where your industry is going in the very near future.”

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The state’s 1500 gyms have remained closed – with no clear date for reopening – because of their “health risk”, the Premier has said. Picture: Adam Yip

CINEMAS

Australia’s three-step coronavirus recovery plan indicated indoor movie theatres could open for up to 20 people under step two, and up to 100 people in step three.

The National Association of Cinema Operators said in a statement the goal is to reopen the doors in July – however this will be dependent on government advice.

In Queensland, the Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, the reopening of cinemas isn’t far off, with governments setting dates within the next few weeks.

But in NSW, the government are yet to announce the reopening of the venues to the public.

Prime Minister Scott Morrison mandated the closure of the venues, along with other “principal places of socialisation” like pubs, clubs, restaurants and cafes, in March.

“The impact of coronavirus is unprecedented and significantly affecting a large part of the economy, including our cinema businesses and the substantial safety requirements enforced by the Australian Government has given us no alternative but to temporarily close cinemas and the State Theatre,” Event Cinemas general manager of entertainment Luke Mackey said at the time.

“We look forward to reopening with a strong blockbuster film line-up, and return to employing staff in the local communities we operate.”

For now, a drive-in cinema – where there’s no limitation on capacity – or Netflix at home will just have to do.

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Young scared couple at the cinema watching an horror movie and screaming, she is holding her boyfriend's hand

TATTOO PARLOURS

While hairdressers and waxing, tanning and nail salons are open to limited numbers of customers at a time, tattoo parlours are currently not allowed to provide services.

Tattooists have called on the Premier to provide a timeline for when businesses around the state can reopen, after the industry was left out of the road map for easing virus restrictions.

President of the Australian Tattooists Guild, Tashi Edwards, told SmartCompanygovernments have been trying to work out whether tattooists should be classified alongside other retail service firms like beauty salons, or with sex workers under “personal services” as they initially were in Queensland.

“We've got high standards, I mean you could have had a hair cut throughout COVID without a regulatory requirement to wear a mask, yet you can’t get a tattoo,” Ms Edwards said.

The guild has provided guidance to the industry for COVIDSafe operations and is pitching its plan to state governments.

It involves contact tracing customers, encouraging patrons to wait in their cars – rather than the shop – for appointments, and the provision of personal protective equipment where appropriate.

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Tattoo parlours have not yet been given a date for resuming business in NSW.

STRIP CLUBS

Australia’s three step road to recovery explicitly excluded strip clubs and brothels from its reopening plans, which the peak body for sex workers calling it a “slap in the face”.

In May, Jules Kim, chief executive officer of Australia’s sex workers’ association the Scarlet Alliance, said the industry had been rocked by COVID-19.

“Coronavirus has had a devastating impact. The varying legality of sex work across Australia, the inability of some workers to access government support and the stigma attached to the industry has made it difficult for some to access financial support,” Ms Kim said.

Ms Kim said it was “incredibly disappointing” that brothels and strip clubs would be forced to remain shut even when Australia reaches its third stage of loosening restrictions.

“Sex workers have a great track record in relation to public health in Australia, demonstrated through many years of low rates of blood borne viruses and sexually transmitted infections and high rates of testing,” she said.

“This is all completely ignored by the Federal Government.”

While Ms Kim appealed to “progressive” states and territories to take a “pragmatic approach”, the NSW government is yet to address the reopening of venues.

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Federal and state governments are yet to address when strip clubs and brothels can reopen. Picture: Adam Yip

DANCE CLASSES

Owners and attendees of dance studios can expect an indication on when they’ll be allowed to reopen this week, the Premier said this morning.

Businesses were forced to take their classes virtual when the pandemic in Australia began, with some dance schools now fearing they’ll be forced to fold upon reopening, due to the number of students allowed to attend a class likely being restricted.

Several case studies of COVID-19 outbreaks in South Korea, China and the US over the past few months have shown the dangers of spending a long time in an enclosed space with a single infected person.

In South Korea, researchers identified 112 coronavirus cases linked to dance classes in a dozen different facilities, with half of those infections a result of direct transmission from instructors to students.

The classes linked to transmission had between five and 22 students and took place in small spaces for almost an hour.