The issue is you downplay anything that isn't in a gym.
Weight and running only exist in the confines of gym space. It's nonsensical.
Saying physical activity is essential is true. 100%
Saying a room with weight machines and treadmills is essential is not true.
A friend of mine jogs outdoors all the time, even with gyms were open. I should tell him thats impossible, you can only exercise within 4 walls where you have to pay a subscription.
It's nonsensical.
You can do intensive training anywhere. You obviously know more about this subject than me but pretending the extent of working out outside of a gym is limited to leisure walks is very ignorant.
That's not, at all, what I'm saying. This is what makes this topic so frustrating to discuss.
You can go hunting. You can do home schooling. You also don't need booze and weed. You can do this you can do that. There is always something else you can do except for the need to hydrate, sleep, breath and eat. As long as you do that, you will live. Now that we've established this, we can start looking at the confine of our society and realistic living habits/conditions.
Of course you can train outside. You can also buy cement bags and train with that. You can do a bunch of different things. Nobody, not me or anyone else here, ever argued the only way to train is within the compounds of a gym.
A lot of people need to be placed in an environment conducive to their task in order to be productive.
Let me put you in the middle of a nightclub and ask you to write a report for work.
You don't have to work in the fitness industry to understand this.
I can look at myself, as someone that has some equipment at home, who's been training for almost 25 years, worked in the industry for over a decade, even for me...it's challenging to work out from home. CPU, cell phone, TV, food, laundry, dog, chores, etc...so many distractions, not to mention, for me home equates unwinding/relaxing.
So yes, it's essential in the same way McDonalds or SAQ is f***ing essential. Be it gyms, tennis courts, ice rinks, any facility that helps people improve their health should be considered essential. Your neighbour can enjoy going for a run outside in shit weather and his little HIIT at home is completely irrelevant.