A North Delta yoga studio has had its business licence suspended after the city received complaints the business wasnsa国际传媒檛 taking the COVID-19 pandemic seriously.
The City of Deltasa国际传媒檚 bylaw enforcement department received numerous complaints after an email from Bikram Yoga Delta to its clients claiming the novel coronavirus sa国际传媒渃annot survive in the heatsa国际传媒� in the studio made the rounds on social media, sparking outrage among many North Delta residents.
The email opened by thanking everyone who was still attending classes at the studio sa国际传媒� where people perform a series of 26 yoga postures and 2 breathing exercises over 90 minutes in a room heated to 40 C sa国际传媒� before making a series of claims about the benefits of continuing to practice hot yoga during the COVID-19 pandemic.
sa国际传媒淔act sa国际传媒� This supposed virus cannot survive in the heat,sa国际传媒� the email reads, before going on to say that sa国际传媒淏ikram Hot Yoga is the best way to keep your immune system healthy and/or best way to build and improve your immune system to fight flusa国际传媒檚 (sic), colds, bacteria and viruses.sa国际传媒�
The email goes on to say the sa国际传媒渄rastic slowdown in attendance by everyone being paralized (sic) into a fear state of mindsa国际传媒� means the studio will be reducing classes sa国际传媒渦ntil the worldwide non-sense subsides.sa国际传媒�
On Thursday, March 19, the City of Delta declared a local state of emergency in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The move enable Mayor George Harvie to enact powers necessary to enforce the Provincial Health Officersa国际传媒檚 verbal order to limit public gatherings and practice social distancing.
In a press release, the city said it would be taking immediate actions against any businesses that refuse to abide by the Provincial Health Officersa国际传媒檚 directions, including closing the business and suspending its business licence.
sa国际传媒淭hese are challenging times for residents and businesses in our community. By declaring a local state of emergency, we have additional abilities to protect the community. I have asked our bylaws department to enforce closures on some businesses that are not following the direction of our Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry,sa国际传媒� Harvie said in a statement Thursday afternoon.
sa国际传媒淚 continue to work with all of council, staff, and senior government officials to protect this community from the impact of COVID-19.sa国际传媒�
READ MORE: (March 19, 2020)
That same afternoon, Delta bylaw inspectors following up on the publicsa国际传媒檚 complaints visited Bikram Yoga Delta, finding a class in progress.
sa国际传媒淭he owner indicated he was planning to hold another class later in the day and was not prepared to voluntarily comply with a request to cancel classes in light of the state of emergency related to the spread of a potentially deadly virus,sa国际传媒� Hugh Davies, manager of property use and compliance with the City of Delta, said in an email.
sa国际传媒淢ayor Harvie, acting in the interest of the community and under the authority of the emergency provincial program, directed bylaw inspectors to revisit the business and suspend the current Delta business licence. The business licence was subsequently suspended and the owner was provided with written notice.
sa国际传媒淭he owner did co-operate and comply with the suspension, and the evening class was cancelled.sa国际传媒�
Asked about the emailsa国际传媒檚 claims during her daily press briefing on Thursday, March 19, Provincial Health Officer Dr. Bonnie Henry debunked the notion that the heat in the studio will kill the virus.
sa国际传媒淵oga studios are a place where people are sweating in close next to each other sa国际传媒� at least the ones I go to sa国际传媒� and that is a perfect environment to spread this virus if somebody is shedding this virus,sa国际传媒� she said.
Henry said the claim probably stems from a misinterpretation of the science around the relationship some viruses have with the environment.
sa国际传媒淩espiratory viruses like influenza, like some of the other coronaviruses that wesa国际传媒檝e seen, tend to fade away when it gets warmer and we have increased amounts of ultraviolet light during the spring and summer time. So we donsa国际传媒檛 see influenza, it just disappears, as it were, around this time of year,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淎nd thatsa国际传媒檚 one of the things wesa国际传媒檝e really been pushing is we need to save our system until at least influenza goes away, and if wesa国际传媒檙e lucky this coronavirus may fade as well, it may wane away in the coming weeks.
sa国际传媒淲e know that some other respiratory viruses do that and theysa国际传媒檙e sensitive to the heat in our environment and to ultraviolet light. But thatsa国际传媒檚 not in a room or in an enclosed environment.sa国际传媒�
Henry said UV light does work to eliminate some bacteria and viruses in health care settings, sa国际传媒渂ut itsa国际传媒檚 very intense UV light for many hours, so thatsa国际传媒檚 not an option.sa国际传媒�
RELATED: (March 19, 2020)
SEE ALSO: (March 20, 2020)
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