Federal health officials call on gyms to wear masks at all times while exercising indoors, after two separate reports published Monday found high coronavirus transmission during high-intensity exercise classes in gyms in Hawaii and Illinois was found.
The outbreaks of COVID-19 in both states late last summer were linked to fitness centers that did not enforce reliable physical distance, consistent and correct use of mask, or that reminded customers and staff to be sick, the Centers for Disease said. Control & Prevention said reports.
The CDC said in Illinois that 68% of the 81 people who attended indoor exercise classes at one unknown Chicago facility between Aug. 24 and Sept. 1 eventually contracted the virus. Of those who contracted the virus, 44% admitted to attending an indoor exercise class, either on the day the symptoms started, the CDC said.
CDC.gov Of the 81 people who attended indoor fitness classes at a gym in Chicago between Aug. 24 and Sept. 1, 68 percent of them tested positive for COVID-19 shortly thereafter, according to the CDC.
Guests at the Chicago Gymnasium had to wear a mask when they entered, had to take their temperature and be screened for coronavirus symptoms. Exercise equipment was also stationed at least six feet apart and class sizes were reduced to reduce virus transmission. However, after practicing, guests were able to remove their masks, which probably spread the virus.
In addition to 76% of guests who admitted to wearing masks regularly during exercise, three people admitted that they attended a class on the same day or after receiving a positive COVID-19 test result, the CDC said.
Unfortunately for gym goers, these security failures created a very high-risk environment for virus transmission that was quite predictable, Joshua Epstein, a professor of epidemiology at the NYU’s School of Global Public Health, told The Washington Post.
‘It’s high breathing in an enclosed space. Yes, people apparently brought masks [a majority] said they rarely wore them, including some participants in COVID. Some were symptomatic and others knew they were positive. “These are all very, very high risk conditions,” he said.
J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday via Getty Images Social remote signs on machines at Gold’s Gym in East Northport, New York, on August 19, 2020, before being reopened after the coronavirus was turned off.
In the Hawaii case, 21 COVID-19 cases were linked to a fitness instructor who offered group classes at two fitness facilities in Honolulu, before starting showing symptoms of the virus on June 29. One of his infected students, a 46-year-old old man who worked as a personal trainer, offered fitness classes in a third gym before being admitted to the hospital due to the virus.
According to the CDC’s report, the fitness instructor sporadically wore a mask when presenting his group classes. During an indoor yoga class on June 27, he wore a mask while his 27 students did not. None of the participants showed symptoms of the virus for the next two weeks. Only one was tested for the virus, and they were tested negative.
The next day, on June 28, about 38 hours before the man started showing symptoms, he ordered a stationary cycling class for ten people. No one wore a mask, although all participants, including the instructor, stayed at least six feet apart.
‘Doors and windows were locked and three large floor fans were aimed at the participants to cool off. [The instructor] was on a pedestal that confronted participants, with instructions and encouragement, ‘the CDC said.
Four of the ten participants did not test positive for the virus the following week. The other six, who attended the cycling class the next day on June 29 with the same instructor and room setting, later tested positive for the virus. Four other people who attended that day’s class, but not the one on June 28, also tested positive.
Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images Army Veterinarian Valentino Murray cleans a bench before using it at Workout Anytime Powder Springs Gym on April 24, 2020 in Powder Springs, Georgia, after gyms reopened in the state.
The CDC concluded that the infections were probably facilitated by the lack of masks, poor room ventilation and possible aerosol emission due to the screams of the instructor.
“Aerosol emissions during speech have been correlated with loudness, and COVID-19 outbreaks have been reported previously associated with intense physical activity and singing,” the report said.
“To reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission in fitness facilities, staff and customers must wear a mask, and facilities must apply consistent and correct mask use (including during intensive activities) and physical distance,” the CDC said. Indoor ventilation also needs to be improved, and gyms need to remind staff and customers to stay home when they are sick.
The CDC has previously advised gym goers to physically remove themselves from others, wash their hands regularly and wear a mask indoors, even when exercising.
‘If the intensity of the exercise makes it difficult to wear a mask, it is especially important to do so [that activity] outdoors away from others, ”the CDC said, recommending that individuals wear more than one mask to exchange if it becomes damp from sweating.
‘For healthy people it seems that it is not harmful to wear masks during exercise. However, individuals affected by lung diseases, such as asthma or COPD, or heart disease, should be evaluated by a healthcare provider before attempting to exercise with a mask, ‘the CDC added.
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