Klang Valley gyms report Covid-19 cases, SOP says no masks needed
Gyms and fitness centres are the latest to be hit by Covid-19 infections, as the number of cases continues to surge in the Klang Valley.
In the past week, at least nine fitness companies reported cases at their establishments in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor involving members, instructors, or other staff.
All the affected gyms have temporarily closed for sanitation and contact tracing and made public announcements regarding the cases on their social media pages.
The gyms include Union Strength (Hartamas), Tribe Boxing Studio (Mont Kiara and Tropicana), Flyproject (Intermark, The Curve, Verve Shops, DC Mall, and Kiara 163), Club Aloha (Sri Hartamas), Revelation Republic (Taman Sea), Ministry of Burn (Bukit Damansara), Hustle Lifestyle (Solaris Dutamas), Pwrhouse (Desa Sri Hartamas), and Urban Spring Pilates (Bangsar).
Face masks are not required for those exercising outdoors or indoors, according to the standard operating procedures issued by the National Security Council.
According to the Health Ministry’s guideline, even though face masks are not compulsory while exercising, individuals must ensure physical distancing of at least one metre.
However, there is now evidence that physical distancing alone may not be enough to prevent infection in enclosed spaces with poor ventilation.
The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its November guideline said those exercising may be breathing heavily, releasing more aerosols into the air containing the Covid-19 virus which can then infect others in the fitness centre who are unmasked.
“There is evidence that under certain conditions, people with Covid-19 seem to have infected others who were more than six feet away.
“These transmissions occurred within enclosed spaces that had inadequate ventilation.
“Sometimes the infected person was breathing heavily, for example while singing or exercising,” it said.
It said that under these circumstances, the number of droplets produced by infected persons could be concentrated enough to spread to those who are present at the same time or shortly after the infected person has left.
Malaysiakini has contacted Defence Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob for comment on whether the SOPs will be revised following the recent cases involving fitness centres.
Multiple infections at same fitness centres
Among the fitness centres which reported cases in the Klang Valley, at least three have reported multiple infections among members or instructors.
Revelation Republic in Taman Sea, Petaling Jaya, said three members tested positive for Covid-19.
The first person had close contact with an infected family member while the other two were detected through contact tracing from the first case detected at the gym.
Club Aloha in Sri Hartamas reported two cases involving a member and an instructor who both attended a spin class on Dec 29.
The member sought testing after the instructor tested positive for Covid-19.
Flyproject, which has various locations in the Klang Valley, reported nine employees and two members testing positive for Covid-19 as at Jan 3.
All Flyproject studios will be closed until Jan 11.
Fitness centre clusters are not new globally, with South Korea in February reporting a cluster involving dance classes at sports facilities.
The recent cases at fitness centres may deal a financial blow to gyms in the Klang Valley as such businesses typically enjoy a boost in membership sales in the New Year season.
This comes after suffering losses from closure last March to June due to movement restriction orders.
According to a survey by AIA Vitality last June, 45 percent out of 10,000-odd respondents said they exercised more during the movement control order, albeit at home.
