Fast music, fast running banned in Seoul gyms

Gyms in Seoul, South Korea have imposed novel COVID-19 restrictions, including banning fast music and slowing down treadmills, to limit spread of the coronavirus.

Health officials believe the new measures will stop people breathing too hard or splashing sweat onto each other and into the air.

Gyms have been ordered not to play music with a tempo higher than 120 beats per minute, and treadmills have been slowed to a maximum speed of 6km/h.

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South Korea is battling a rise in daily case numbers, with more than 1000 coronavirus cases for the sixth straight day.

Seoul and the surrounding area is facing stringent social distancing restrictions to slow transmissions.

The 1100 new cases reported by the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency were the highest ever for a Monday, when the daily increase is usually smaller because of reduced tests during the weekends.

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South Korea has added more than 12,100 cases this month alone, bringing its caseload to 169,146, including 2044 deaths.

The country last week set record daily increases for three straight days through Saturday, when it reported 1378 new cases.

South Korea has vaccinated 30.4 per cent of its 51 million residents.

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With Associated Press