HealthDay Reporter
Thursday, February 25, 2021 (HealthDay News) – If you think you can safely Playing sports Without your mask in the gym during pandemicTwo new government reports show you are wrong.
Corona Virus Outbreaks in Fitness Researchers from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention discovered that the centers in Chicago and Honolulu last summer were most likely the result of trainees not wearing masks.
In the Chicago study, it was found that 60% of people who attended personal fitness classes at a single facility between August 24 and September 1, 2020, tested positive for COVID-19, while another 7% reported symptoms consistent with the disease. Although there were some infection prevention measures in place, such as checking the temperature and checking symptoms upon entry, exercisers were allowed to remove their masks during sweating and stress.
“It is very important for individuals who want to attend the gym and exercise to be aware of the symptoms of COVID, and realize that if you are feeling something that looks like a symptom of COVID-19, you should stay home as a precaution,” Richard Terran said, An epidemiologist at the CDC in Chicago who co-authored the Chicago case study.
“this is Outbreaks Promotes the need for common strategies to prevent COVID-19, including the universal use of masks in public places when people are with others who do not live in the same home, and especially indoors; Testing people who are showing symptoms and those who have been exposed to them SARS– Cove – 2; Self-isolation After showing symptoms or a positive COVID-19 test result; “People who have been exposed to the SARS-CoV-2 virus are quarantined,” 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 people while wearing a mask and no cases were reported among these participants. But the same trainer did not wear a mask while driving a cycling class several hours before his symptoms appeared. All 10 people in the class, none of whom wore a mask, had tested positive for COVID-19. Among them was a fitness trainer from another facility. The CDC report said he became acutely ill and was hospitalized in the intensive care unit.
12 hours before the second trainer showed symptoms, he had several small boxing sessions and a personal training session. Of the 11 people exposed to the virus, 10 tested positive in early July. All 10 people showed symptoms of COVID-19, and one of them was hospitalized in the intensive care unit. On July 22, Honolulu issued emergency orders requiring the face to be covered in fitness centers, including during exercise, the CDC report indicated.
She continued
“Transportation was likely facilitated by lack of face masks, extended close contact, and poor room ventilation. The transmission of SARS-CoV-2 occurred despite a fixed 6-foot spacing. Coach A’s screams may have been throughout the cycling class. The one-hour constant contributed to the transmission of the infection; an aerosol emissions were associated while speaking out loud, and an outbreak of COVID-19 associated with vigorous physical activity and singing has been previously reported, “Laura Groves and colleagues at the Hawaii Department of Health and the CDC COVID-19 Response Team, Explained in their report.
The two case studies were published online February 24 in the Centers for Disease Control Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
Alex Larcom, senior director of health promotion and health policy at the International Racquet and Sports Association, said the outbreaks described in the CDC studies were caused by inconsistent mask use and other loopholes in social distancing behavior, and possibly buildings that were not well ventilated. New York times.
“In Chicago, you had members who went to class when they showed symptoms or were positive,” Larcom said. She added that the facility was not originally designed to be a fitness center, and it appears that screening of symptoms has not been well done.
“At the community level, we rely on people who are sick or think they are sick to distance themselves from society,” Larcom said. Times. Those who went to the gym despite showing symptoms “might have also been going to the grocery store, going out to eat, and moving around the community.”
Larcom noted that since the summer, many health and fitness clubs have introduced new safety protocols and improved ventilation in their facilities.
CDC researchers stressed that a multi-pronged strategy is needed in fitness facilities, including good ventilation, consistent and correct mask use, constant reminders that staff and beneficiaries should stay home when sick, and more stations. cleaning hands.
more information
Visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to learn more about how to do this Stay safe while outdoors during the outbreak.
Resources: Morbidity and Mortality Weekly ReportFebruary 24, 2021, online; New York times