Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the scientific basis for the decision that gyms may remain open in Blackburn but have been closed in Wirral.
Hygiene and social distancing measures are vitally important for reducing the transmission risk of COVID-19. We know that the virus spreads readily in any indoor environment where members of different households and/or support bubbles spend time together, so the transmission risk in indoor settings, such as gyms, remains high.
We recognise the efforts that have been made to reduce risk across a range of venues. As decisions are based on a number of factors, it is possible for variation to exist between different local authority areas.