Something has been missing from Brigitha Sesilya’s life over the past few months. The COVID-19 health crisis, which has forced people to shelter at home to slow the disease’s spread, has prevented her from going to the gym. Before the pandemic arrived in Jakarta, the 29-year-old news editor loved to work out at her fitness center three to five times a week.

“If I had a lot of free time, I would spend up to two and a half hours at the gym, joining a class and doing some weight training. Aside from that, I usually spent an hour to an hour and a half at the gym,” Brigitha told The Jakarta Post recently.

As gyms remain closed, she is trying to exercise at home or outdoors like the area around Sunter Lake in North Jakarta.

“I have been longing to exercise at the gym because I feel like I can’t exercise fully at home,” Brigitha said, although she stressed that she would not immediately rush to the gym when it reopened.

The national COVID-19 task force announced in July that fitness centers may reopen in strict adherence to the health protocols to accommodate a limited number of visitors.

Earlier in mid-June, the Youth and Sports Ministry issued a health protocol for public sports activities during the “new normal” phase, requiring fitness centers to limit visitors to just 10 people at a time. Pregnant women and people aged over 45, however, were not permitted at fitness centers, the protocol stated.

But Jakarta, which has gradually reopened its malls, offices and restaurants in its transition to the post-epidemic ”new normal”, has yet to reopen its fitness centers in light of the spike in new infections.

Sports physician Andi Kurniawan said gyms were high-risk areas for COVID-19 transmission.

“When someone [exhales] during physical training like running on a treadmill, they can release droplets into the air and [create] potential for the virus to spread,” he said.

“Gyms are indoor facilities, and various studies show that exercising indoors poses a higher risk of infection compared to exercising outdoors. So it is very important for gyms to apply strict health protocols to prevent the spread of the virus," stressed Andi, who is also director of the Indonesian Sports Performance Enhancement Center (SPPOI) Eminence.

He added the need for a clear timeline to regulate fitness center reopenings.

For example, SPPOI Eminence’s gym that catered to professional athletes and the public remained closed, but the center reopened its health clinic last month when Jakarta entered the PSBB’s transition phase. The gym would be reopened gradually after a thorough review.

“As the pandemic is still far from over, exercising alone at home is the safest way,” said Andi.

Meanwhile, Fitness First Indonesia plans to limit its visitor numbers by using its new mobile booking application, Fitness First Asia. Members are required to reserve their slots at the gym through the app.

Fitness First Indonesia senior general manager Nurhayati Villy said that the fitness chain would limit its gyms to operating at 50 percent capacity. The gyms would also adopt strict health and safety measures, including leaving ample space between exercise equipment to ensure physical distancing and disinfecting the equipment every three hours.

Other facilities like the sauna, steam room and swimming pool would remain closed to prevent infection, Nurhayati said.

“We strongly recommend that members bring their own towels and exercise clothes, even though we will still provide these,” she added.

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