East Bay gyms fined for violating COVID-19 rules

Three gyms in Contra Costa County were cited and fined over the past month for violating the COVID-19 health order.

Diablo CrossFit in Pleasant Hill and two Fitness 19 locations in Danville and Concord were fined hundreds of dollars.

Of the businesses, Diablo CrossFit was the biggest offender, cited on three occasions at increasing amounts for a total of $1,750 in fines. The county issued the gym its latest citation on Wednesday.

Two senior inspectors from the county’s code enforcement task force were sent to examine local business practices. They found the gyms had been going against health guidance by operating indoors.

“We have been working for many, many months with the owner of Diablo CrossFit to convey the importance of the health orders, how to comply with them and to educate them on why, ultimately, the health order is in effect,” Scott Alonso, a spokesman for the Contra Costa District Attorney’s office, said in an interview.

The county’s latest crackdown comes as COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed everywhere. There were 350 new cases reported Wednesday in Contra Costa County, its seventh-highest single- day total since the start of the pandemic.

Like most other California counties, Contra Costa spent the part of the past month in the most restrictive purple tier in the state’s reopening blueprint. The restrictions prevent gyms from operating indoors, which Alonso said all three businesses cited over the past month had ignored.