Unlike the process used during New York’s four phases of business reopening – where all decisions were in the governor’s hands, local governments will have a say in the way gyms can finally welcome back customers after five months of a COVID-19-generated shutdown.
Gov. Andrew Cuomo today announced that gyms can reopen as soon as Aug. 24, but only at 33-percent capacity and with masks to be worn by everyone inside at all times.
However, “localities” will have a role, the governor said, in that local elected officials and health department leaders will be able to make some decisions. Furthermore, health departments will be required to inspect the facilities either before opening or within two weeks of reopening.
He didn’t share more details – a fact not lost upon Genesee County Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein.
Speaking at today’s Public Service Committee meeting, Stein wondered aloud what code the health department should be using when doing the inspections and asked whether the gyms could hold classes.
“There may have to be a conversation in regard to gyms and with (county Public Health Director) Paul Pettit,” Stein said.
She said that it looks as though “new powers” are being given to the public health director, and hoped that a “checklist or template” would be made available by the state to assist members of the Finger Lakes Region control room.
“This is just seven days away from today,” she said.
County Manager Matt Landers said the county has the right to “delay classes indoors” and to delay the openings of gyms until Sept. 2 although he doesn’t expect to go down that road.
A state requirement to have MERV13 air filters* installed in all gyms could pose a problem for fitness centers housed in older buildings.
Landers said he is realizing there are more gyms in Genesee County than he thought, with four or five in Le Roy alone.
“There will be a lot of fun stuff over the next couple weeks,” he said, implying there is plenty of work ahead.
Movie theaters continue to be on the outside looking in as no announcement was made on their reopening.
“Maybe movie theaters should file a lawsuit and then they’ll be able to open. That seems to be how it works,” Stein said, alluding to the fact that more than 1,500 gym owners filed a class-action suit last week against the governor for not lifting his closure mandate.
*From Wikipedia: MERV is the acronym for Minimum Efficiency Reporting Value, a measurement scale designed in 1987 by the American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers to report the effectiveness of air filters.
