Confirmed COVID-19 case at Fitness First George St gym
An Australian virologist has warned Sydneysiders not to go the gym, as COVID-19 lingers on exercise equipment and can spread quickly. This comes as a popular gym in Sydney’s CBD confirmed a person who worked out there has been infected with the virus.
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Gym junkies have been told to go for a run or do “push-ups at home” as fitness centres are potential cesspools of coronavirus.
It follows a city gym emailing members on Friday night to warn them a person infected with COVID-19 visited four days earlier, on Monday.
Fitness First George Street Platinum remains open.
Fitness First said the gym was cleaned and disinfected on a regular basis in line with health regulations.
A team of specialist cleaners was in the gym on Saturday afternoon after Fitness First found out about the confirmed COVID-19 case late on Friday.
A Fitness First spokesperson said daily cleaning of equipment and public areas, in line with Health Department recommendations and using hospital grade products, is in effect in the club – and has been ramped up since Government Health Department recommendations started going around coronavirus out earlier in the year – with the spokesperson adding this is above and beyond the regular and thorough cleaning and sanitation implemented in clubs daily.
According to the NSW health department, COVID-19 “may persist on surfaces for a few hours up to a few days”.
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“In a gym, because the equipment is shared, there will be a lot of opportunities for the virus to spread,” UNSW professor of microbiology Peter White said.
“It only takes one person to be infected and the virus can spread easily in a gym, because so many people touch the same equipment.
“Whatever’s on one person’s hands is going to quickly mix to the whole group.
“The other danger of gyms is that there are a reasonable amount of people in a closed environment, and in any closed environment the virus is likely to spread because of person to person contact — which is why cruise ships are breeding grounds.”
According to Mr White, it is more sensible to do push-ups at home or go for a run.
“If you are going to the gym; sanitise between touching each piece of equipment, wear a P2 mask — not a surgical mask, they’re useless,” he said.
“It’s not going to hurt to do a few push-ups at home rather than using gym equipment.”
Health and fitness industry association Fitness Australia has urged increased cleaning at its member gyms, which include Fitness First, Anytime Fitness, Snap Fitness and Good Life.
“All gyms need to step up their cleaning regimen — if they clean once or twice a day before this situation, they need to do it half a dozen times a day now,” Fitness Australia CEO Barrie Elvish said.
“Gyms need to instruct clients to use disinfectant wipes, be seen by clients to cleaning the equipment and put signs up encouraging people to wipe the equipment before they use it.”
Wildly popular gym franchise Barry’s Bootcamp, which markets itself as offering Hollywood’s most in-demand celebrity workouts, has employed cleaning staff to disinfect all surfaces, weights, treadmills and mats with disinfectants between all classes.
Many Fitness First members who arrived at the George St gym yesterday to take advantage of the facility’s extended weekend operating hours were not aware of the confirmed case of coronavirus because the email was only sent to members of the George St franchise.
“A person who was at George St Fitness First on 9 March approximately between 6am and 11am has recently been confirmed as having coronavirus (COVID-19) infection,” Fitness First wrote to George St members.
“You have been identified as a casual contact and we advise that you monitor your health until 24 March 2020 (14 days after exposure to the infectious person).”
Psychologist Francesco Lopizzo, 65, went for a workout at 9am yesterday, unaware someone with a confirmed case of coronavirus had used the gym earlier in the week.
“I would have thought the gym would be closed down,” Mr Lopizzo said.
“A gym is a perfect place for a cluster to form.
“I would prefer the government closed the gym, rather than leaving it up to the company.”
A Fitness First spokesman said the gym did everything it could to thoroughly clean the exercise equipment and surrounding surfaces once it found out someone with COVID-19 had been in the gym.
“Additional cleaning was undertaken as soon as the club was informed of the case in question by the NSW Health Department,” a spokesman said.
“The gym, equipment and public areas will continue to be thoroughly cleaned and disinfected in line with NSW Health Department recommendations.”
Fitness First member Keelye Hanmer, 26, cleaned out her locker at Fitness First George St yesterday and will not return until she is satisfied other members have not contracted the virus.
“I won’t be coming to this gym again for at least two weeks, as a precautionary measure,” Ms Hanmer said.
“People are concerned about going to the gym because there’s so many people in close contact who are sharing equipment and breathing heavily.
“I’m considering suspending my membership because I’ll go for more runs and walk to work instead of going to the gym.”
Originally published as Confirmed COVID-19 case at Fitness First George St gym
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