Federal health officials are urging athletes to wear a mask while exercising indoors, after two separate reports released Monday found high transmission of coronavirus during high-intensity exercise hours at gyms in Hawaii and Illinois.
Outbreaks of COVID-19 in both states at the end of last summer were linked to fitness centers that did not reliably apply physical distance, consistent and correct use of masks or reminded employers and staff to stay home when they were sick, the Center said for Disease Control and Prevention reports.
In Illinois, the CDC said, 68 percent of the 81 people who attended indoor exercise classes at an unidentified unit in Chicago between Aug. 24 and Sept. 1 contracted the virus. Of those who contracted the virus, 44 percent admitted to participating in an indoor exercise class the day after the symptoms began, the CDC said.
CDC.gov Of the 81 people who attended indoor fitness classes at a gym in Chicago from Aug. 24 to Sept. 1, 68 percent of them soon tested positive for COVID-19, according to the CDC.
Guests at the Chicago gym were forced to wear a mask at the entrance, their temperatures were taken and they were examined for coronavirus symptoms. Training equipment was also stationed at least six feet away, and class sizes were kept to a minimum to help reduce the transmission of the virus. However, once they exercised, guests were allowed to remove their masks, which is believed to have spread the virus.
In addition to 76% of guests who admitted to wearing masks rarely during exercise, three people admitted to attending a class on the same day or after receiving a positive COVID-19 test, CDC said. .
Unfortunately for athletes, these safety failures created an extremely risky environment for the transmission of the virus, which was quite predictable, Joshua Epstein, a professor of epidemiology at NYU’s School of Global Public Health, told the Washington Post.
“It’s a breath of fresh air in an enclosed space. Yes, people brought masks, but obviously [a majority] said he rarely wears them, including some COVID participants. Some were symptomatic, and others knew they were positive. All these are circumstances with very, very high risk “, he said.
J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday via Getty Images Signs of social distancing on cars at Gold’s Gym in East Northport, New York, on August 19, 2020, before reopening after the coronavirus closed.
In Hawaii, 21 COVID-19 cases were related to a fitness instructor who taught group classes at two fitness facilities in Honolulu just before he began showing symptoms of the virus on June 29. One of his infected students, a man who worked as a personal trainer, continued to give fitness classes at the 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 was tested for the virus and gave negative results.
The next day, June 28 – about 38 hours before the man began to show symptoms – he instructed a stationary indoor cycling class for 10 people. No one was wearing a mask, although all participants, including the instructor, were at least 6 meters away.
“The doors and windows were closed and three large fans were directed at the participants for cooling. [The instructor] he 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 part in the cycling course the next day, on June 29, with the same instructor and cameraman, later tested positive for the virus. Four other people who attended the course that day, but not the one on June 28, gave positive results.
Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images Veterinary Army Valentino Murray is cleaning a bench before using it at the Anytime Powder Springs Workout Gym on April 24, 2020, in Powder Springs, Georgia, after the state’s gyms reopened.
The CDC concluded that the infections were probably facilitated by participants’ lack of masks, poor room ventilation, and the possible emission of aerosols from the instructor’s cries.
“Aerosol emission during speech was correlated with sound intensity, and outbreaks of COVID-19 related to intense physical activity and singing were previously reported,” the report said.
“In order to reduce the transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in fitness facilities, staff members and customers should wear a mask, and facilities should require consistent and correct use of the mask (including during high-intensity activities) and physical distance. “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 recommended that athletes 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 wear a mask, it is especially important to do it [that activity] outdoors, away from others, ”the CDC said, while recommending that individuals wear more masks to change if they get wet from sweating.
“For healthy people, wearing masks during exercise did not prove to be harmful. However, people with 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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