This Is What Boston Fitness Studios Are Doing to Prevent the Spread of Coronavirus
Fitness events and expos across the country are being cancelled left and right. Does that mean you need to skip the gym too?
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With the real and impending threat of coronavirus we can imagine the hesitation you might feel walking into the cesspool of germs that is the gym, where sweat flies freely and hundreds of people touch everything at any given hour of the day. Luckily, local fitness studios and gyms in Boston aren’t turning a blind eye. They’re taking extra precautions, and asking you to do the same.
Local spin studios Turnstyle and the Handle Bar sent out informational emails earlier this week detailing the increase in frequency of their cleaning, as well as changing the cleaning formula to even more powerful disinfectants. Pole dance studio Fly Together Fitness in Somerville is upping their disinfectant to a 70 percent alcohol solution and will increase their cleaning of poles, door handles, and storage cubes after every class. Trillfit also informed its clients via email of the increase in cleaning procedures and access to cleaning supplies at its dance cardio studio in Mission Hill, and Bikram Yoga Works on Boylston Street informed its customers of the same. But while they may be taking extra precautions, they’re urging visitors to do their part as well.
Meaning? If you’re feeling under the weather, please do your neighbor a favor and stay home from the gym—as much as you feel like “sweating out that cold.” And if you hadn’t been doing it already, wipe down the benches, mats, and handles of any equipment before and after use—just to be safe.
While it’s important to take these extra precautions, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says transmission of coronavirus is much more common through respiratory droplets than contact with contaminated surfaces. It’s not a bad thing to err on the side of caution, though.
For some larger fitness events and wellness centers in the area, the risk isn’t worth the gamble, though. Kripalu, the yoga retreat center in Stockbridge, is “actively monitoring reasons for program and presenter cancellation” and is encouraging guests to reschedule their visits if they have any flu-like symptoms. In addition, the yoga festival Wanderlust, which takes place on the Esplanade each summer has already cancelled all of its U.S. events.
The cancellations not only speak to the hysteria here in Boston, but to what’s going on around the country in sports and fitness. This weekend, the Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio canceled its expo, which every year attracts hundreds of health and fitness vendors from around the world as well as spectators and visitors. There is even mounting uncertainty over whether or not the Boston Marathon will take place as usual. No decisions have been made by officials yet, according to the Boston Globe, but the cancellation of sporting events around the world—like the Tokyo Marathon, golf’s European Tour, as well as the cancellation of multiple American universities sporting events, among others–don’t look promising.
Which begs the question: What will become of the Olympics in Tokyo come July?
