COVID complaints about cycle gym rise

Alberta Health Services has confirmed that it received three complaints about a Calgary cycle studio that has become the epicentre of a COVID-19 outbreak.

RIDE Cycle Calgary held by-invitation-only fitness classes at its 17th Avenue S.W. facility during the first week of July.

This week, Alberta Health added Ride Cycle to its list of confirmed outbreaks of the novel coronavirus. At last count, the classes were linked to 42 cases.

AHS noted that the club closed voluntarily and management has been in contact with the province about contact tracing.

An AHS spokesperson confirmed that at least three people who attended the fitness classes contacted the province between July 13 and July 21 with complaints about how the classes had been managed.

While Ride has maintained that safety protocols were followed, people who attended have told Postmedia that the bikes were not distanced properly, trainers were not wearing masks and fans were blowing across multiple people.

When contacted about these concerns, a spokesperson for Ride Cycle referred Postmedia back to a blog post about its response to the outbreak.

Although the case of Ride Cycle has garnered media attention, it appears to be an outlier in Canada. Other provinces have reopened gyms and fitness centres without reports of outbreaks.

Precautions have been fairly standard from province to province, with new rules regarding limited capacity in gyms, strict physical distancing, increased sanitary precautions and use of masks.