Andrew Cuomo Allows New York Gyms to Reopen at 33% Capacity; Masks Required

A woman, wearing a protective face mask, trains at a gym in Saudi Arabia's capital Riyadh
RANIA SANJAR/AFP via Getty Images
Hannah Knudsen

Gyms across the Empire State will finally be able to open their doors to the public as early as next week after months of closures due to the Chinese coronavirus pandemic.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo (D) announced that gyms, which have been shut down since March, will be allowed to reopen as soon as August 24 but at a limited capacity:

“Basically the outline is 33 percent capacity,” Cuomo announced Monday. “There are health requirements that are in the guidelines to the ventilation requirements.”

The guidelines require masks to be worn “at all times.”

Cuomo added that localities must inspect facilities before or “within two weeks of their opening to make sure they’re meeting all the requirements.”

“If the localities can get the inspections done or be ready to inspect, then they can open August 24. If a locality can’t get ready to do inspections, then they get another week. They can do it September 2,” he said.

Localities will also get to determine if gyms may hold indoor exercise classes, the governor added:

“The gyms are going to say these are difficult guidelines. And they are. Gyms are one of the areas where you have to be very careful — and we know that,” Cuomo explained.

“If it’s not done right, it can be a problem. It is an area of concern — that’s why we went slow on it and that’s why we focused on it,” he added.

New York, once considered a hotspot of the virus, reported a positivity rate below one percent on Monday:

The state has reported 425,916 cases of the virus and more than 32,400 related fatalities since the start of the pandemic.

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