New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced Monday that gyms in the state, which have remained closed for about five months, could take over new operations next week.
Cuomo said gyms will be allowed to resume operations with a capacity of 33% as soon as August 24th. He added that gyms must meet state health requirements, which will be released later today. Clients and staff will have to wear masks in the facilities and gyms will be subject to new ventilation requirements.
While gyms will be subject to a host of new restrictions, it is yet another step in the direction of normality in New York, which has managed to keep the level of Covid-19 spread low throughout the state, while continuing to reopen parts of the economy. The state, which was one of the first in the U.S. to be hit by the coronavirus and sustain one of the deadliest outbreaks to date, is now on the map for a way forward.
“The gyms may open as soon as August 24,” he said Monday in a newsletter. “The guidance today is about gyms. In principle, the context is 33% capacity. There are health requirements that are in the guidelines that must be adhered to in their ventilation requirements. This is a whole new topic where we can do a lot of good work. “
Shares of Planet Fitness increased about 2% in intraday trading on the news.
“We look forward to working with our franchisees to open our New York locations safely under Governor Cuomo’s guidelines, to provide New Yorkers with much-needed access to high quality, affordable health and fitness,” the company said in a statement. to CNBC.
Cuomo added local officials should inspect gyms before reopening or within two weeks of their opening “to ensure they meet all requirements.” He said locations through Sept. 2 should inspect the gyms and determine if they can reopen if they can’t before Aug. 24.
“The state will honestly make the hard decisions. I will say the companies have to close. I will say the gyms have to close. I will say the bars have to close. Let them blame me,” Cuomo said. “You, local governments, have to do the compliance and enforcement work.”
He acknowledged that gym owners were likely to criticize the state’s health requirements as too cumbersome, but added that the guidelines were made by health officials and engineers. He said gyms are an “area of concern” and “that’s why we went it slowly.”
“If it’s not done right, it could be a problem and we’ve seen that,” he said of renovating gyms. “You have to repay the economy, you have to get life moving forward. That’s the constant tension you’re trying to run and so far we’ve run well.”
Another reason why the state is willing to renovate gyms, Cuomo said, is because everyone enrolls in gyms, which can effectively detect contact if there is a cluster of infections returning to a gym. . He added that the state’s low high infection rate means residents can safely do more activities without risking a massive outbreak.
Cuomo said 0.7% of all coronavirus tests in New York returned positive on Sunday, the most recent data available, adding that the state has averaged below 1% of positive tests since June. He added that six people died on Sunday from Covid-19, far below the more than 800 daily deaths the state saw at the height of the April outbreak.
New York, once the epicenter of the US coronavirus outbreak, has taken steps in the aftermath of the first outbreak and kept the daily infection rate low compared to many other states. Still, the virus has infected more than 425,500 people and killed at least 32,800 people in the state, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
Cuomo has warned several times in recent weeks that even if numbers remain low, New Yorkers will have to wait because the virus could kick back quickly as people, businesses and officials listen to reopen.
The entire state is now in the fourth and final phase of Cuomo’s reorganization, but a number of businesses, including gyms and restaurants, remain close for operations inside. Cuomo announced last week that bowling alleys could be reopened with adjustments starting Monday and that museums and other cultural venues will be reopened on August 24.
Cuomo has expressed particular caution when it comes to gym openings.
“We know gyms are very problematic from the other states. They opened them and they had to close them,” Cuomo said in a news release on August 6. “We are here, delicate on this island of the state of New York with this sea of scattering around us, so we know we have this storm and we have to be very, very careful.”
Health officials are still learning how the coronavirus spreads and what types of environments present the greatest risk of infection. Infectious disease specialists say that outdoor environments in which people can spread apart are the lowest risk. Crowded, indoor environments with poor ventilation are one of the environments with the highest risk, say specialists, adding that it is essential that people wear masks in such conditions.
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