The yoga and pilates halls in the region have not obtained the cancellation of the prefectural decree which forced the sports halls to close for health reasons
- Thirty rooms in Gironde had filed an appeal with the administrative court to continue their activity in times of Covid-19, it was rejected on Wednesday.
- The judge considered that the rooms could represent a risk of contamination.
- Gyms are considering appealing, deeming the measures disproportionate.
Justice ruled on Wednesday, the yoga and pilates rooms in Gironde will remain closed. They did not obtain the annulment of a prefectural decree which closed them for health reasons, a defeat for the followers of Zen, who pleaded the harmlessness of their “soft” practice in the spread of the virus.
In the wake of the many appeals filed for two weeks by sports halls against the prefectural closures, the administrative court of Bordeaux had been seized in summary by the teachers of about thirty studios where yoga, meditation and pilates are practised.
Risk of contamination for justice
The court estimated for six of them that they produced “no verifiable element” demonstrating that they were not “spaces conducive to the spread of Covid-19”. For justice, nothing proves that these studios “can be able to scrupulously enforce all health recommendations scrupulously, while the intense physical activity that is practised there generates a major risk of aerosolization in closed spaces. , and therefore contamination ”. This measure “does not appear disproportionate (…) in the current context of the resurgence of the epidemic in the department of Gironde,” said the judge.
A contemplated appeal
The court also rejected the request of 26 other yoga studios, a judgment “disappointing” for their defender, Me Florent Verdier, who intends to appeal. According to him, these closures represent “a disproportionate measure” while the studios have put in place health rules “barrier measures, distancing, reduction in the number of participants”.
Faced with the risk of aerosolization and handling of the virus, arguments of the prefecture and the Regional Health Agency to close closed sports halls, Me Verdier defended the “soft methods” of yoga. “It’s not the same if you rower or if you do meditation!” “, He summarised.
The justice system has rejected several appeals for two weeks, but administrative tribunals have, on the contrary, rejected orders, allowing the reopening of rooms as in Rennes or Toulouse.
