Too Soon?
When gyms reopened in March of 2021, the world was ready to hop of their Peloton's and start lifting the heavy duty weights they were deprived of during quarantine. Since gyms have been reopened, staff and gym members have been taking extra precautions to ensure the safety of themselves, as well as others, this includes social distancing, wiping down machines after every use, and wearing a mask at all times. And although the percentage of vaccinations continue to rise, and the mask mandate being lifted on June 15, 2021, many people are still refusing to take their masks of at the gym.
As we all know, gyms began closing down back in July 2020, due to the outbreak of COVID-19. But, even before the pandemic, it has always been very easy to catch an illness, or even an infection at the gym. The most common illnesses that an individual can transmit from the gym are Staph infections, fungal infections, viruses. And now with COVID-19, the risk of catching an illness at the gym is at an all time high.
Before the outbreak of COVID-19, Cathy Cassata conducted a heath survey for healthline.com, she discovered some very disturbing truths about the gym. What she found was that more than half of gym-goers witness bathroom users not wash their hands, then continue using gym equipment. Not only that, she also found that 35% of men admitted to never wiping down weight machines after using them, while over 25% of women admitted to never wiping down cardio equipment. Of course, now people are being way more cautious, due to the fear of catching COVID. But, with everyone so eager to go back to living their normal lives, it is hard to say if people will continue to do their part in order to keep themselves healthy, as well as others.
In an interview with Ryan McDonald, he discusses his thoughts on the mask mandate being lifted. Although McDonald is vaccinated, he still insists on wearing his mask in public facilities such as gyms and grocery stores, and claims that he is one of the only ones that is continuing to do so.
Old habits die hard, so even though we are in a pandemic we still cannot be sure that everyone is going to do their part to keep facilities like gyms clean. COVID-19 has forced the world to basically relearn how to live their lives. We all have those moments where we forget our masks before we enter the grocery store, or forget that we have to stay six-feet away from one another. So the chances of someone forgetting to wash their hands or wipe down gym equipment after use, seem very likely.
