Federal health officials are urging gymnasts to wear a mask at all times while exercising indoors after two separate reports released Monday found high coronavirus transmission during high-intensity exercise classes at gyms. Hawaii and Illinois.
Outbreaks of COVID-19 in both states late last summer were related to fitness centers that were not reliably applying physical distancing, consistent and correct use of masks, or recalling patterns. and staff who stay home when they are sick, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
In Illinois, according to the CDC, 68% of the 81 people who attended indoor exercise classes at an unidentified facility in Chicago between Aug. 24 and Sept. 1 ended up getting the virus. Of those who contracted the virus, 44% admitted to attending an exercise class in the room on or after the day their symptoms began, the CDC said.
CDC.gov Of the 81 people who attended high-intensity indoor gym classes at a Chicago gym between Aug. 24 and Sept. 1, 68 percent of them soon tested positive for COVID-19. according to the CDC.
Guests at the Chicago gym had to wear a mask at the entrance, their temperature was taken and they were examined for coronavirus symptoms. Training equipment was also parked at a minimum distance of 6 feet and class sizes were minimized to help reduce virus transmission. Once exercised, however, guests were allowed to remove the masks, which is believed to have spread to a large extent.
In addition to 76% of guests who admitted to wearing masks infrequently while exercising, three people admitted to attending a class on the same day or after getting a positive COVID-19 test, the CDC said. .
Unfortunately for gymnasts, these security flaws created an extremely predictable risk environment for virus transmission, Joshua Epstein, a professor of epidemiology at NYU’s World School of Public Health, told the Washington Post.
“It’s a high breath in an enclosed space. Yes, people wore masks but obviously [a majority] he said they rarely wore them, including some attendees with COVID. Some were symptomatic and some knew they were positive. All of these are very, very high risk circumstances, ”he said.
J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday via Getty Images Signs of social distancing on machines at Gold’s Gym in East Northport, New York, on August 19, 2020, before reopening after the coronavirus closed.
In the case of Hawaii, 21 cases of COVID-19 were related to a fitness instructor who taught group classes at two fitness facilities in Honolulu immediately before he began showing symptoms of the virus on June 29. One of his infected students, an elderly man who worked as a personal trainer, went to take fitness classes at a third gym before being hospitalized for the virus.
According to the CDC report, the fitness instructor sporadically wore a mask when teaching 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 in the next two weeks. Only one has been tested for the virus and tested negative.
The next day, June 28, about 38 hours before the man began to show symptoms, he instructed an indoor stationary cycling class for 10 people. No one wore a mask, although all participants, including the instructor, were kept at least six meters apart.
“The doors and windows were closed and three large floor fans were directed at the participants to cool off. [The instructor] he was on a pedestal in front of the participants, shouting instructions and encouragement, ”the CDC said.
Four of the ten participants tested 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, tested positive for the virus later. They also tested positive for four more people who attended the class that day, but not the one on June 28th.
Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images Army veterinarian Valentino Murray cleans a bench before using it at the Anytime Powder Springs Workout Gym on April 24, 2020, in Powder Springs, Georgia, following the reopening of state gyms.
The CDC concluded that the infections were probably facilitated by participants ’lack of masks, poor room ventilation, and the possible emission of aerosols by the instructor’s screams.
“Aerosol emission during speech has been correlated with loudness and previously reported COVID-19 outbreaks related to intense physical activity and singing,” the report states.
“To reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 to fitness facilities, staff and skippers should wear a mask and facilities should make consistent and correct use of the mask (including high-intensity activities) and physical distancing, ”the CDC said. Indoor ventilation should also be improved and gyms should remind staff and guests to stay home when they are sick.
The CDC has previously advised gymnasts to physically distance themselves from others, wash their hands frequently, and wear a mask indoors, even when exercising.
“If the intensity of the exercise makes it difficult to use a mask, it is especially important to do so [that activity] outdoors, away from others, ”the CDC said, recommending that people wear more than one mask to change if they get wet from sweat.
“For healthy people, wearing masks during exercise has not been shown to be harmful. However, people affected by lung diseases, such as asthma or COPD, or heart disease, should be evaluated. by a healthcare provider before attempting to exercise with any mask, ”the CDC added.
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