Is it Too Early for Gyms to Open? Some Health Experts Believe So
Posted in: College News and Events
Recently, Governor Murphy set the September 1, 2020 reopening date for gyms. To reopen under state health guidelines, gyms will have to limited capacity to 25% and one person per 200 square feet for any fitness classes. People also have to wear masks at all times.
However, some health experts believe this is too soon, including Dr. Stephanie Silvera, Professor in the Public Health Department.
“I’m a little bit surprised they’re opening gyms before indoor dining simply because they’re both indoor activities, but in gyms, you have people who are doing cardiovascular exercise and exhaling with more force, which we know is a higher risk activity,” Dr. Silvera.
Dr. Silvera says from a health perspective, she would wait on both gyms and indoor dining until there is a consistent downward trend for the number of new cases and rate of transmission. She says the other option is to wait for same-day rapid result COVID tests to become affordable.
“Even if you have full health insurance, you’re still paying out of pocket $95 upwards in money just to get one COVID test, there are some labs and scientists working on, it’s essentially a strip of paper, you put it in your mouth, get saliva on it and it would turn a certain color whether you are positive or negative, which would be a much less expensive test that can be run,” said Dr. Silvera.