Sports Hall.

Illustrative image.

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Tristan Reynaud / SIPA

  • Since September 26, the sports halls located in the Lille metropolis have been closed to fight against the Covid.

  • But many followers circumvent the measure by going to train at the Belgian border, in other places in the North or in the neighboring Pas-de-Calais where this closure does not apply.

  • This is not without causing problems in terms of overcrowding in some places and economic slump for Lille cinemas.

You can search the Internet for a long time or make dozens of phone calls, in the Lille metropolitan area, no one will open the doors to a gym.

And for good reason.

Placed in a reinforced red alert zone, the Lille metropolis must respect strict conditions to fight against the Covid.

Among them, the complete closure of sports halls.

What frustrate thousands of practitioners in the area.

Except that the parade was quickly found.

Located a stone's throw from the Lille metropolis, Belgium is absolutely not affected by this type of measure.

And since September 26, when theaters closed in Lille, we clearly see an influx of French sportsmen on the other side of the border.

In Mouscron, a town bordering Tourcoing where everything is closed, the Universal Fitness room had never known such crowds.

"The misfortune of some makes the happiness of others"

“We have a huge number of requests.

There are at least ten more people a day than usual.

There are even people who have taken subscriptions for a month as they think it will last in France.

It's a godsend for us.

The misfortune of some makes the happiness of others ”rejoices Deborah Devooght, manager of the premises.

In Belgium as in France, the mask is compulsory and the machines must be disinfected after each visit.

Only social distancing changes: it is 1.50 m in our neighbors instead of 1 meter in France.

The Pas-de-Calais rooms welcome many Lille residents

But it is not only at the Belgian border that the people of Lille are withdrawing.

If the Lille metropolis is in a reinforced red zone, this is not the case for the other districts of the North and even less for the neighboring department of Pas-de-Calais.

There, the gyms are always open.

But the influx of Lille begins to pose a problem.

Example in Carvin, located about twenty kilometers from the capital of Flanders.

Accustomed to the place, Justine, a 22-year-old Carvinoise, hasn't set foot in her room for a week. “There are too many people.

Usually, I reserve my time slot a quarter of an hour earlier.

But for ten days, it has been impossible.

The room is shielded to the point that it becomes very average to respect barrier gestures, ”says the student.

Overcrowding that is starting to be a problem

An overcrowding which only displaces the problem according to Giovanni Cubeddu, who manages the Soleil Fitness room in Carvin.

“It's a great bullshit of the state.

The halls are closed in the North and people come to train in Pas-de-Calais.

In some places, we end up with overcrowded rooms.

People are on top of each other.

Remove from one side to switch back to the other, it's no use.

It was really not a good thing to close the theaters, ”said the professional.

If around the metropolis, some are rubbing their hands with this influx, in Lille, sports hall managers are starting to shut down.

Already closed for more than two months during confinement, this new ban looks like a knockout for some.

Lille cinemas are starting to file for bankruptcy

At 22 rue Solferino, in downtown Lille, Marie-Ange Delomez had been running Fitness 222 for 38 years.

A small structure which attracted around a hundred regulars a year.

But the Covid broke everything.

“This disease is not resolved at all.

At the beginning of September, I told my customers that I was not resuming annual subscriptions because I did not know what the future was going to be like.

I can't live like this.

Suddenly, I file for bankruptcy.

It's unfortunate but I stop.

I don't know what to do next.

I worry, ”worries the manager.

Like Marie-Ange, they could be numerous in the metropolis not to recover from this closure of sports halls.

If this is maintained in the coming weeks, the victims could well outnumber the beneficiaries.

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  • Closing

  • Covid 19

  • Sport

  • Coronavirus

  • Economy

  • Lille

  • epidemic