Ford defends decision to reopen dance studios, says fitness centres aren’t comparable
Posted October 20, 2020 2:14 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Gym and fitness club operators say they’re frustrated that dance studios are allowed to reopen in the parts of Ontario in a modified Stage 2, but not the clubs.
Premier Doug Ford was asked about it today and defended his government’s decision.
“These groups are coming into these boutiques, fitness areas compared to a dance studio that’s there for teaching. They have a cohort, if you want to call it that, compared to fitness centres,” Ford said.
“The next question as we move forward will be ‘how about the other fitness centres’ and it it just keeps going and going comparing back-and-forth. I don’t think you can compare the dance studios with certain students, over and over again, to fitness areas.”
Ford says he’s doing everything he can to make sure these facilities are reopened as fast as possible.
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As of Monday, dance studios in Toronto, Peel, York and Ottawa were all given the green light to reopen.
Dancers have to pre-register and follow physical distancing guidelines during the class.
The premier did compare dance studios to that of schools, saying students come in, get taught, and then leave. He also referenced a spin-class studio in Hamilton that saw a severe COVID-19 outbreak at its facility.
“Once you do contact tracing, they told me it [SPINCO] ended up in the thousands and thousands [of cases]. I think we’re comparing apples to oranges on that one,” Ford added.
