Wollongong business owner Ed Price can't wait to see clients smiling, or grimacing, as they workout again when gyms reopening in a fortnight.
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The Tribe Functional Training Wollongong owner said he was ready to open shop come June 13 with additional cleaning procedures in place.
"I have missed my members as it is a rewarding experience to help them reach a positive state of mental and physical wellbeing," he said.
"Since the lockdown, we have run regular Zoom workouts but it has been tough for a lot of people.
"Our members rely on the gym to get endorphins, and often working out is part of their regular routine.
"It has been a challenging time for our members and for us as a business but we are looking forward to getting back to a normal way of life."
Gyms, dance studios and other physical fitness centres in NSW will reopen within a fortnight after being closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while children's community sport will return from July 1.
The state government on Tuesday announced up to 10 people would be allowed to partake in classes of dance, yoga or pilates from June 13, while up to 100 people will be permitted inside an indoor venue such as a gym.
Indoor pools and saunas can also reopen with restricted numbers, while the government also allowed tattoo and massage parlours to resume business.
Shellharbour's Dance Sensations owner Nathan Barr is looking forward to see dancers back in the studio as opposed to through a computer screen.
"The announcement is a big step in the right direction" he said. "I would have preferred if we were allowed to have 20 people in a room but the reopening has been rolled out in a phased way.
"I'm sure the dance industry can show we can reopen safely and I can't wait until we are once again at full capacity."
Mr Barr said the challenge going forward would be working out the logistics of having only 10 dancers in the studio.
Meanwhile, Chris Llewellyn of Rand Family Tattoo is relieved his advocacy for the industry to reopen has paid off.
The Windang tattoo studio owner has represented state and national tattooing organisations by liaised with government representatives and politicians to find out what measures need to be implemented for studios to be allowed to reopen safely.
"Tattoo businesses were lumped in with the beauty industry and were allowed to do home and mobile tattoo services," he said. "But we fought to put a stop to that because we were concerned that that could cause a public health outbreak.
"Then tattoo businesses were taken out of the beauty salon basket and the government failed to put us back in so we could not reopen on June 1 when salons did."
Mr Llewellyn said many workers in the industry had been hurting after being forced to stop working, however he was now looking forward to reopening.
"On Tuesday we were flooded with clients wanting to book appointments so their tattoo could be finished, to rebook cancelled appointments, and to book in to get a new tattoo," he said.
"We are prepared to implement hygiene measures such as hand sanitiser stations and social distancing, which we had actually already implemented before the shutdown."
As for council-run facilities, a Wollongong City Council spokeswoman said "we know many in our community will welcome the news that community centres, gyms, physical fitness centres and indoor pools can open in the near future".
"We will work through the details of the updated NSW Public Health Order, once it is issued, to see how we can appropriately implement the reopening of council-run spaces and share this information with our community as soon as possible," she said.