COVID-19 at the gym: every participant in this maskless cycling class has coronavirus



[ad_1]

This week, new research is a clear reminder that COVID-19 and the gym don’t mix particularly well. Indoor group fitness classes are actually a fairly effective way to transmit the coronavirus, according to two new studies from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Both studies looked at outbreaks of COVID-19 that took place at fitness facilities in Honolulu and Chicago during the summer of 2020, including a cycling class where each participant was left ill. This outbreak was detected in an investigation by the Hawaii Department of Health. For the investigation, contact tracers and case investigators linked 21 cases of COVID-19 to two fitness instructors who taught multiple classes in June and July 2020. They taught while they were infectious but before they did. ‘have visible symptoms.

One of those instructors taught a 60-minute, high-intensity indoor cycling class, just four hours before his symptoms started later that evening. The instructor and students were all at least six feet apart, but neither wore masks during practice, as per institution protocol, and windows and doors were closed. The instructor was facing the class, “shouting instructions and encouragement,” the report says, and, presumably, spilling infectious respiratory droplets containing the virus. Over the following week, all 10 people who attended the class tested positive for COVID-19.

Among those infected participants, one was also a fitness instructor, who would later be admitted to intensive care with a severe case of COVID-19. But before his symptoms appeared, he taught several, unmasked classes at a different facility, including a personal training session and three small kickboxing classes just 12 hours before his symptoms appeared. Of the 11 people who were exposed that day (five of whom were also exposed to the instructor two days earlier), 10 would test positive for COVID-19 over the next few days. The two students who wore masks and one of the instructor’s four personal training clients the day before also tested positive.

Another CDC study looked at cases related to a Chicago gym operating at 25% capacity during the last week of August 2020. Of 81 people who attended high-intensity indoor classes this week (the most up to several), 55 were diagnosed with Covid-19[%FEMININELesparticipantsontapportéleurspropresnattesetpoidsontsubiundépistagedessymptômesetdescontrôlesdetempératureàl’arrivéeetontmaintenuunedistancedesixpiedsmaisn’étaientpastenusdeporterdesmasquespendantl’entraînementSur58personnesinterrogées76ontdéclaréporterrarementleurmasque(Canêtrepluschoquant:22participantsdontletestétaitpositifauCOVID-19sontallésenclasselemêmejourouaprèsledébutdeleurssymptômes-donttroisquisontallésenclasselemêmejourouaprèsavoirobtenuunrésultatdetestpositifMaisilestpossiblequecertainssoientallésenclasseplustôtdanslajournéeavantderemarquerdessymptômesplustarddanslajournée)[FEMININELesparticipantsontapportéleurspropresnattesetpoidsontsubiundépistagedessymptômesetdescontrôlesdetempératureàl’arrivéeetontmaintenuunedistancedesixpiedsmaisn’étaientpastenusdeporterdesmasquespendantl’entraînementSur58personnesinterrogées76%ontdéclaréporterrarementleurmasque(Peut-êtrepluschoquant:22participantsdontletestétaitpositifauCOVID-19sontallésenclasselemêmejourouaprèsledébutdeleurssymptômes-donttroisquisontallésenclasselemêmejourouaprèsavoirobtenuunrésultatdetestpositifMaisilestpossiblequecertainssoientallésenclasseplustôtdanslajournéeavantderemarquerdessymptômesplustarddanslajournée)

None of these reports are surprising, of course, given what we know about the spread of COVID-19 and the gym. In both case studies, public health experts found that the combination of poor mask wearing, high breathing effort, lack of ventilation in an enclosed space, and prolonged close contact were included. among the probable factors facilitating transmission. This is all in line with what we already know about the coronavirus, which is spread primarily via respiratory droplets.

The safest way to train during this pandemic is at home or outdoors (alone or only with other members of your household). And while the risk of exposure from participating in a fitness class with other people will never be zero, as SELF reported, it is possible to make the scenario safer by moving it outside. (or ensuring sufficient air circulation) and making sure everyone uses a good physical distance. and wears masks.

[ad_2]

Source link