Cuomo Says Gyms Can Reopen – Masks Must Be Worn At All Times

Oh man, get ready for another mask fight on the horizon.

Today, Governor Cuomo announced the official guidelines for gyms reopening as early as August 24th. That sounds easy enough right...however, it's not going to be as easy as throwing the doors open, putting out some hand sanitizer and get to pumping iron.

Governor Cuomo has said that masks are mandatory and must be worn at all times. Gyms can only operate at 33% capacity. Can you imagine the complaining about having to wear a mask while you're running on a treadmill? What about trying to take sips of water in between reps?

Every gym member will have to sign in and out and provide their contact information. This will make contact tracing easier if someone at the gym comes down with the coronavirus.

The biggest hurdle for gyms to open will be the expectation for gyms to install MERV-13 filters into their HVAC systems and then get the okay from their local city health inspectors to open. A MERV-13 sounds like some really expensive piece of equipment, but in reality, it's just a really, really good furnace filter that captures tiny particles and cleans the air. It pretty much works like the one you have in your house....just a little better.

The state is leaving it up to the localities to inspect and give the individual gyms to go-ahead to open. I would think there will be quite a backlog of gyms and fitness centers trying to schedule their inspection to open. On the plus side, gym owners have been preparing since we entered Phase Four so they should be pretty ready.

Governor Cuomo said, "Localities can also decide whether the gym can have classes inside it or not. The local elected will make the decision in the jurisdiction, and the local health departments must inspect before or within two weeks of the fitness centers reopening."