… in Trump’s orbit. So predictable:
When President Donald Trump revealed his guidelines for “opening up America again” last week, among the bolded names of businesses and institutions that could reopen were restaurants, movie theaters and places of worship — so long as they adhered to strict social distancing protocols.
Tucked near the bottom of the list, right above a warning that bars should stay closed, was a curious inclusion: gyms.
While an integral part of many Americans’ routines, gyms and fitness clubs would seem to present a particular risk for contact spread of a contagious virus. Filled with people sweating and breathing hard, sharing equipment and spaces, gyms are in many ways the last kind of business to prioritize during a deadly pandemic.
Their inclusion follows a last-minute lobbying push by an industry not known for flexing its muscles in Washington. While not every major company was part of the effort, conversations with 10 leaders in the fitness-club business reveal an influential network of relationships that kicked into gear over the past few weeks and helped move gyms to the front of the line — even to the surprise of many in the industry.
Noteworthy figures in the effort include a Trump-loving fitness-center owner in Pennsylvania, Rudy Giuliani’s son Andrew, billionaire real-estate mogul Steve Ross and the US Surgeon General.
Among the most influential advocates is an Iranian-born founder of one of the country’s largest fitness club chains, Bahram Akradi of Life Time Fitness. Akradi has been pitching governors and the Trump administration on what he calls a “comprehensive, multifaceted tactical plan” to fight the coronavirus and rebuild the economy. He now finds himself on one of Trump’s economic recovery working groups and in conference calls with the President himself, including on the day before Trump released his new guidelines.
Multiple people at fitness-center companies — from executives at giants like Gold’s Gym to independent health clubs — told CNN they did not expect gyms to be mentioned in reopening plans from either the Trump administration or Georgia Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, who announced Monday fitness centers were included in several public-space business that could begin reopening by the end of the week.
“We just really lucked out and were able to get our message into a couple of the right people’s hands,” said Meredith Poppler, a top official at the International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association, the industry’s main trade group.
Of course. That’s how a crooked patronage system works. And that’s what we have.
Here’s a little reminder of what can happen when you are in close quarters with a carrier breathing heavily:
With the coronavirus quickly spreading in Washington state in early March, leaders of the Skagit Valley Chorale debated whether to go ahead with weekly rehearsal.
The virus was already killing people in the Seattle area, about an hour’s drive to the south.
But Skagit County hadn’t reported any cases, schools and businesses remained open, and prohibitions on large gatherings had yet to be announced.
On March 6, Adam Burdick, the choir’s conductor, informed the 121 members in an email that amid the “stress and strain of concerns about the virus,” practice would proceed as scheduled at Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church.
“I’m planning on being there this Tuesday March 10, and hoping many of you will be, too,” he wrote.
Sixty singers showed up. A greeter offered hand sanitizer at the door, and members refrained from the usual hugs and handshakes.
“It seemed like a normal rehearsal, except that choirs are huggy places,” Burdick recalled. “We were making music and trying to keep a certain distance between each other.”Advertisement
After 2½ hours, the singers parted ways at 9 p.m.
Nearly three weeks later, 45 have been diagnosed with COVID-19 or ill with the symptoms, at least three have been hospitalized, and two are dead.
The outbreak has stunned county health officials, who have concluded that the virus was almost certainly transmitted through the air from one or more people without symptoms.
I suppose there will be some people whose desire to work out in the gym will override any concerns. Hopefully the vast, vast majority will not and the gyms will have natural social distancing because so few will be in there. If not, people are going to die.