By Robin Foster
HealthDay reporter
THURSDAY, February 25, 2021 (HealthDay News) – If you think it is safe to workout in a gym without a mask during the pandemic, two new government reports show you are wrong.
Coronavirus outbreaks at fitness centers in Chicago and Honolulu last summer were likely the result of exercisers and instructors not wearing masks, researchers at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found.
In the Chicago study, 60% of people who took personal fitness classes at a facility between August 24 and September 1, 2020 tested positive for COVID-19, while another 7% reported symptoms related to the disease. Although some measures have been taken to prevent infection, such as: B. Temperature checks and symptom examinations on entry, the trainees were allowed to remove their masks while they sweated and exerted themselves.
“It is very important that people who want to go to the gym and work out know the COVID symptoms and are aware that if they feel what looks and feels like a COVID-19 symptom, they will stay home as a precaution, “said Richard Teran, a CDC epidemiologist in Chicago who co-authored the Chicago case study.
“This outbreak reinforces the need for combined COVID-19 prevention strategies, including the use of a universal mask in public facilities when people are with other people who do not live in the same household, especially indoors. Testing of symptomatic people and people who have SARS were exposed to -CoV-2, self-isolation after symptoms or positive COVID-19 test results and quarantine of people who were exposed to SARS-CoV-2, “the report said.
In the Honolulu study, 21 cases were linked to a fitness trainer who tested positive for COVID-19 on July 1. Two days before symptoms appeared, the fitness trainer led a yoga class for 27 masked people, and no cases were reported among these participants. However, the same instructor was not wearing a mask when leading a bike class a few hours before symptoms began. All 10 people in the class, none of whom were wearing a mask, later tested positive for COVID-19. Among them was a fitness trainer from another facility. He fell acutely ill and was hospitalized in an intensive care unit, the CDC report said.
Twelve hours before this second instructor started showing symptoms, he held several small kickboxing sessions and a personal training session. 10 of 11 exposed people tested positive at the beginning of July. All 10 developed COVID-19 symptoms and one was hospitalized in the intensive care unit. On July 22, the city of Honolulu issued emergency warrants requiring facial covers in fitness centers, including while exercising, the CDC report said.
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“Transmission was likely facilitated by the lack of face masks, prolonged close contact, and poor room ventilation. SARS-CoV-2 transmission occurred despite stationary cycles ≥ 6 feet apart that contributed to transmission that aerosol emissions during of speaking has been correlated with volume, and COVID-19 outbreaks associated with intense physical activity and singing have been previously reported, “said Laura Groves and colleagues from the Hawaii Department of Health and the CDC COVID-19 Response Team, explained in her report.
Both case studies were published online on February 24th in the CDC’s weekly report on morbidity and mortality.
The outbreaks described in the CDC studies were caused by inconsistent mask use and other errors in social distancing behavior, as well as possibly by inadequately ventilated buildings, Alex Larcom, senior manager of health promotion and policy at the International Health Racquet and Sportsclub Association, told The New York Times.
“In Chicago you had members who went to class when they were symptomatic or COVID positive,” Larcom said. Also, this facility wasn’t originally designed as a fitness center, and symptom screening appeared to have been poorly done, she added.
“Across society we rely on people who are sick or who think they are sick to get out of society,” Larcom told the Times. Those who went to the gym when they had symptoms “probably went to the grocery store, dined, and roamed the community too.”
Since the summer, many health and fitness clubs have implemented new safety protocols and improved ventilation in their facilities, according to Larcom.
The CDC researchers stressed the need for a multi-faceted strategy in fitness facilities, including good ventilation, consistent and correct mask use, persistent reminders to stay home for employees and customers when sick, and additional hand-washing stations.
More information
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn more about how to be safe when out in public during the pandemic.
SOURCES: Weekly Report on Morbidity and Mortality, February 24, 2021, online; The New York Times
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