COVID-19 and our Fitness Industry

Managing COVID-19 in Our Fitness Industry

The goal for the fitness industry (and the rest of Australia) is now the reduction in impact of COVID-19.

This will allow our healthcare system better handle cases and ultimately drive the fatality rate down. And, if we can spread the rate of infection over a long enough period of time, we may even reach a point where those not infected can be vaccinated.

3 key ways COVID-19 is transmitted.

1. Direct close contact with a person while they are infectious or in the 24 hours before their symptoms appeared
2. Close contact with a person with a confirmed infection who coughs or sneezes, or by...
3. Touching objects or surfaces (such as door handles or tables) contaminated from a cough or sneeze from a person with a confirmed infection, and then touching your mouth or face.

Let’s prevent transmission as much as we can.

Social Distancing - This virus can be thrown as much as 2 meters if somebody coughs. By allowing yourself that distance, you significantly reduce the risk of infection.

Clean Surfaces with Alcohol Wipes - The virus can survive for up to 9 days on different surfaces. That means things like doorknobs, tables, or workout benches can be terrible infection vectors.

Washing/Cleansing hands – Ideally, before and after touching anything that is available to the public.

For the moment, the Fitness Industry is Still Open for Business

According to the Chief Medical Officer, Brendan Murphy, Aussies don’t need to avoid going to the gym yet. “I think the gym is fine, but everybody needs to practice good hygiene,” he said. “If you’re going to the gym, I would be very focused on hand washing using hand sanitisers. All of those social distancing and good hygiene measures,” he continued.

Helping our communities maintain their health and fitness is an important part of protecting ourselves against COVID-19.

It’s important to make people feel safe

• Demonstrate that you understand the issue and are taking appropriate measures to protect them.
• Be clear and firm on not allowing anyone that appears sick to train in your facility
• Use hand sanitizers near the entry and have all attendees clean hands before entering and leaving your facility
• Encourage hand cleansing throughout work-outs, particularly when switching between equipment
• Regularly remind clients, staff and members to maintain a 2 meter buffer
• Ensure that all staff are demonstrating best practice with social distance, hand cleaning and not working if sick
• Regularly brief staff and clients on how the infection is spread (above) and outline how you are mitigating this
• Discourage staff from remaining within the club if not working
• Limit class numbers to increase the space between members, limiting the chance of exposure to the virus
• More frequent and longer cleaning times between classes on on the gym floor to disinfect and clean down the equipment.
• Encourage members to use gym facilities during off peak periods (after all, many are working remotely now)

By remaining alert and calm, by acknowledging the issue and responding accordingly, we can all work through this. Respect that many clients will not be interested in training, but for those that do, let's ensure they have a place to train safely.

Remain safe. Remain optimistic. We WILL get through this.