China: Gym instructors livestream their workout amid coronavirus outbreak

Amid the unprecedented coronavirus outbreak, a gym instructor in China has started live-streaming her workout sessions to help hundreds of people who are stuck indoors. According to international media reports, Heidi Liu is a pilates instructor at a studio in Shanghai and she was live streaming using her iPad, broadcasting to hundreds of people working out with her at home. Amid coronavirus, live streaming also has been one of the biggest trends in China's exercise sector as going online helps residents, who are stuck indoors for up to 14-day long quarantines, stay fit.

While speaking to an international media outlet, Liu said that the majority of such classes are offered for free. She further said that she doesn't want her clients to forget her and she is just trying to protect her existing customers. Several gym instructors in China have started live streaming their work out sessions as they expected that the suspension of their business was going to last as long as it currently has. 

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Global tourism affected

Coronavirus has also thrown the travel industry into chaos, threatening billions of dollars in losses while keeping a million travellers at home. According to international media reports, 30 airlines have suspended services in China and nearly 25,000 flights were also cancelled. Reportedly, hotel rooms in China are largely empty and with many tourists cancelling travel to Asia while many are taking a wait-and-see approach. Asia, which attracts 75 per cent of Lunar New Year travellers, has also seen a decline even though the Chinese New Year is one of China's major travel periods. 

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First detected in the city of Wuhan, in Hubei Province of China, the virus outbreak has now spread across 20 countries since December 2019. The death toll for the novel Coronavirus hit 1,868 in mainland China. About 1,701 people have recovered from the disease, whereas, a total of 12,552 coronavirus patients have by now been discharged from hospitals. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has dubbed the virus as COVID-19.

The death toll for n-Coronavirus has surpassed the tolls from the SARS epidemic of 2002-03. The origin of the virus has been linked to the local seafood market of Wuhan, which is the capital of Hubei province in central China. Few of the countries currently affected by the virus include Singapore, Thailand, Japan, India, and the United States.

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