Gym open to healthcare workers: “I want to make myself useful”
Gym owner Sander Jansen of Performfit in Amsterdam Duivendrecht opens the doors of his gym for healthcare workers. He does this earlier this week, it was announced by Erasmus MC in Rotterdam that the internal for healthcare staff is open: ”Wonderful initiative, I am happy to join in”. A gym is also opening its doors for healthcare staff in Beverwijk.
Since December 19, 2021, all gyms have been closed due to the tightened corona measures. Erasmus MC is an exception to this rule. The hospital still keeps the doors of the successful open because, according to a hospital saying, the staff must stay fit. Ernst Kuipers is currently the director of Erasmus MC. From tomorrow he will take on as Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport.
There would be an exception rule in Erasmus MC, but this is unknown to the industry. Gym owner Jansen therefore believes that she can also open the gym for employees in care: “I want to make it useful because we are closed to the general public, so healthcare staff are welcome to come and work out here for free from tomorrow.”
His call is well received on social media. The first care worker has already followed suit for tomorrow. With the campaign, Jansen also hopes to make clear that it is actually important for this time: ”In this time, training, exercise and nutrition are good for everyone”.
“Training, exercise and nutrition is good for everyone”
Petition
The sports sector is currently seen by the government as a non-essential sector. As a result, sports in the gym during the lockdown is not possible. Ronald Wouters believes that the Dutch should be able to exercise quickly. As director of sports sector organization NL Actief, he started a together with Maurice Ambaum petty to make indoor sports possible again. The petition ‘Sport and exercise is an essential service’ has already been signed more than 250,000 times.
January 11
Last December, the House of Representatives unanimously passed a bill to make sport an essential sector. The government has not yet taken a decision on this. If the cabinet agrees, it will effectively become possible during lockdowns. Next Tuesday, January 11, Wouters and Ambaum will hand over their petition to the new cabinet in The Hague. They hope that Ernst Kuipers will realize that all indoor sports locations must open.
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