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Image Credit: ADOBE STOCK

A Kelowna dance and yoga studio owner is speaking out after she received negative comments on social media because people thought her studio was promoting an anti-COVID-19 vaccine message.

Sara Green Eddy, the owner of Move & Flow - Dance Fitness & Yoga, posted on Facebook last night, April 14, after receiving negative calls, messages and emails from people who thought she was tied to a controversial martial arts studio with a similar name, Flow Academy.

Flow Academy recently posted on its website it won’t allow anyone to receive a membership if they’ve been vaccinated against COVID-19. The martial arts academy has received both a ticket and order in recent months after disobeying public health orders banning indoor fitness classes. It also failed to get its business licence renewed in March as it was not in line with Interior Health pandemic procedures. It has received two additional tickets from the City for operating without a business licence.

Eddy wanted to clarify she is not anti-mask or anti-vaccine. Her studio also follows provincial health orders.

She posted to social media in an effort to get the word out about the identity mix-up.

“It was better to let everyone know... so if people were coming to our Facebook and planning to write mean messages they would see more information and realize it’s not us,” she said, adding that there was also an uptick in people visiting their website April 14 when the news regarding Flow Academy's pandemic procedures was first announced.

“All of our classes are currently available online. It’s been a challenging time for all small businesses and we are working hard to continue to offer classes and community to our fabulous members,” she wrote on Facebook.

She’s grateful to see people have been sharing the post around and leaving positive messages on it.

In regards to the Flow Academy martial arts studio, the City is coordinating with enforcement authorities to determine what the next steps are as it examines the impact of non-compliance with health orders.

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