Washington’s COVID-19 Phase 2 requirement for indoor fitness clubs states that face coverings are required for all club members “except while engaged in strenuous exercise.” Thus, the requirement is flawed and a public health hazard. Per the current mandate, gym members are exempted from face mask usage at the very moment when mask usage is the most critical. It’s precisely when members are breathing hard and creating a cloud of exhaled water vapor that face coverings are needed the most. Imagine such an exception for grocery store customers; absurd, right?
As recently reported by the Associated Press (“Focus turns to tiny airborne particles,” Sept. 27), a new study indicates that COVID-19 may not only be spread by large water particles, but also by tiny particles (in aerosol form) that can travel much farther than six feet and hang in the air for much longer, potentially for hours. These findings underscore the criticality that everyone wear face mask coverings in indoor public places without exception.
Gyms are only implementing requirements established by the state; it is up to our state government to address this regulatory shortcoming by eliminating the inappropriate exception in its face-covering requirement for gyms.
