CDC calls for stricter gym precautions after facility-linked COVID-19 outbreaks

Federal health officials are urging gym goers to wear a mask at all times when training indoors after two separate reports released on Monday revealed high transmission of coronavirus during high-level exercise classes intensity in gyms in Hawaii and Illinois.

The COVID-19 outbreaks in both states at the end of last summer were linked to fitness centers that did not reliably enforce physical distancing, consistent and correct use of the mask, or recall customers and staff to stay home when they were sick, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said in its reports.

In Illinois, the CDC said, 68% of 81 people who took exercise classes at an unidentified Chicago facility between August 24 and September 1 ended up contracting the virus. Of those who contracted the virus, 44% admitted to attending an indoor exercise class on or after the day their symptoms first started, the CDC said.

Guests at the Chicago gym had to wear a mask at the entrance, had their temperature taken and were screened for symptoms of the coronavirus. Training equipment has also been placed at least six feet apart and class sizes have been kept to a minimum to help reduce transmission of the virus. Once the exercise, however, guests were allowed to remove their masks, which is largely how the virus is said to have spread.

In addition to 76% of guests admitting to rarely wearing masks when exercising, three people admitted to attending 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 an extremely risky environment for virus transmission that was rather predictable, Joshua Epstein, professor of epidemiology at NYU’s School of Global Public Health, told the Washington Post. .

“It’s high breathing in an enclosed space. Yes, people brought masks but obviously [a majority] said they rarely wore them, including some participants with COVID. Some were symptomatic and some knew they were positive. All of these situations are very, very high risk, ”he said.

In the case of Hawaii, 21 cases of COVID-19 were linked to a fitness instructor who was teaching group classes at two fitness centers in Honolulu just before he started showing symptoms of the virus on June 29. One of his infected students, 46 – An old man who worked as a personal trainer, then taught fitness classes at a third gym before being hospitalized with the virus.

According to the CDC report, the fitness instructor sporadically wore a mask when teaching 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 developed symptoms of the virus within two weeks. Only one has been tested for the virus, and they have tested negative.

The next day, June 28 – about 38 hours before the man started showing symptoms – he gave a 10-person stationary indoor cycling class. No one was wearing a mask, although all participants, including the instructor, remained at least six feet apart.

“The doors and windows were closed, and three large floor fans were directed to the participants for cooling. [The instructor] was on a pedestal in front of the participants, shouting instructions and encouragement, ”the CDC said.

Four of the 10 participants did not test positive for the virus the following week. The other six, who took the next day’s cycling course on June 29 with the same instructor and the same room, then tested positive for the virus. Four other people who attended the class that day, but not the one on June 28, also tested positive.

The CDC concluded that the infections were likely facilitated by participants’ lack of masks, poor room ventilation, and possible aerosol release from the instructor’s screams.

“Aerosol emissions during speech have been correlated with loudness, and outbreaks of COVID-19 linked to intense physical activity and singing have already been reported,” the report said.

“To reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in fitness facilities, staff and clients should wear a mask, and the facility should enforce consistent and correct mask use (including during fitness activities). high intensity) and physical distance, ”the CDC said. Indoor ventilation should also be improved, and gyms should remind staff and clients to stay home when they are sick.

The CDC has previously advised athletes to physically move away from others, wash their hands frequently, and wear a mask indoors, even when exercising.

“If the intensity of the exercise makes it difficult to wear a mask, it is particularly important to [that activity] outside, away from others, ”the CDC said, while recommending that individuals wear more than one swap mask if they get wet from sweating.

“For healthy people, wearing masks while exercising has not proven to be harmful. However, people affected by lung disease, such as asthma or COPD, or heart disease, should be evaluated by a healthcare professional before attempting to exercise with a mask, ”added the CDC.