TIME TO WORK OUT
New Jersey announces re-opening of gyms with safety measures, after facing pressure »
TRENTON » Time to work out.
Gov. Phil Murphy is finally allowing gyms to reopen amid an ongoing COVID-19 public health emergency that has kept these facilities closed to the public since March 21.
“I will be signing an executive order allowing all gyms and health clubs and indoor amusement facilities to reopen to their members and customers beginning this upcoming Tuesday, Sept. 1,” Murphy said Wednesday at his daily coronavirus press briefing. “I know this has been a long time coming.”
Over five months ago, Murphy
famously ordered gyms, fitness centers and other recreational businesses deemed “non-essential” to cease and desist operations until further notice. The mandatory shutdowns were part of Murphy’s comprehensive lockdown policy to slow the spread of COVID-19, a highly contagious disease first discovered in December 2019 in China.
“Gyms are among the most challenging of indoor environments as noted by multiple epidemiologists and experts even in the past several days and weeks,” Murphy said Wednesday, “but given where we are in this fight we believe we are ready to take this step forward.”
Gyms that reopen next month must adhere to Murphy’s COVID-19 mitigation guidelines, including requirements that all visitors, members and employees wear masks or face coverings at all times.
Building capacity shall be limited to 25% and any workout equipment must be sanitized and properly spaced to allow a minimum of six feet of distance between all gym goers, Murphy said.
He thanked the “many responsible gym owners who have done the right things and worked with us over the past several months,” adding there have been “a few knuckleheads” who had illegally operated gyms during the COVID-19 pandemic in violation of his prior executive orders.
The governor, of course, has been under heavy pressure to reopen the gyms.
Ed McNeill, president and owner of the New Jersey Athletic Club in Lawrence Township, recently blasted Murphy for placing Garden State gyms in a “state of limbo.”
“Unlike neighboring states, where gyms have reopened,” McNeill said last month in a letter to the NJAC community, “there is no end in sight for the shutdown of NJ gyms. This is an untenable situation for gyms, which are uniquely positioned to accommodate COVID-19 restrictions and minimize risk for members.”
Slowly reopening New Jersey one step at a time, Murphy may soon permit indoor dining in these parts.
Indoor dining could be cleared to reopen from a COVID-19 shutdown in New Jersey as early as next month.
Murphy hinted at the reopening in response to a reporter’s question during Wednesday’s news conference, but didn’t commit to a timetable.
Indoor dining has been shuttered since March, when the outbreak first struck the state.
More than 14,000 New Jerseyans have died from COVID-19 complications since March.