COVID In Colorado: Coalition Of Gyms Wants Flexibility On Capacity Restrictions
AURORA, Colo. (CBS4) - In a gym that can hold hundreds of people, there are dozens of machines at Zone Athletic Club which go unused everyday.
"It's hard to make your business work at 10% capacity for sure," Brad Banker VP of operations said.
Banker says each of their locations follow strict state health guidelines trying to keep their members coming back even when the access has been limited.
"If we have to turn them away because we are at capacity that breaks our heart," he said.
The Colorado Fitness Coalition, which was formed in response to the pandemic, now has more than 200 members. It hopes new research looking at the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment numbers which shows gyms pose a low risk for COVID-19 will be enough to ease restrictions.
"As we all know states are tracking data, but there isn't that type of granular look at how did this actually happen? What we are happy to know now is it isn't happening at gyms," coalition board member Joanna Masloski said.
The coalition is now urging counties to apply for a five star certification program that would allow gyms to increase safety protocols in order to increase capacity.
"We recognize the state, and everyone needs to be very cautions for the health and welfare of all Coloradans. We are excited to see this data and be able to say 'We are a business that can be open safely,'" she said.
Without a change soon, some in the industry may not be able to hold on much longer.
"I think we could hold on for the next six months, if that, but being down close to 50% in some locations, it's taken a toll on our business for sure," Banker said
Below is the study the Colorado Fitness Coalition used in its analysis.
https://coloradofitnesscoalition.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/OregonConsultingGroupSummary.pdf