This report is so surprising, bordering on irresponsible. Where is the context given for *why* gyms are closing?

Working out - be lifting weights or cardio - will expel more virus into the air. Like singing, it’s a fundamentally risky activity in an indoor space in a pandemic. https://twitter.com/rtenews/status/1319365313478201344

All the activities shown - disinfecting weights, wiping down surfaces - will slow fomite transmission only. That is: it’ll stop people spreading the virus by touch.

But we know this is a respiratory pandemic, spread by droplets and aerosol.

It’s in the bloody air!

Lads, your handwipes do NOTHING for that.

You can have everyone in your gym nicely spread out, with 2m+ between them, and all surfaces buffed to a high shine - and you’ll still have a super-spreading event.

BECAUSE IT’S IN THE AIR.

And sure enough, a gym in Toronto - which ‘followed all the rules’ - was the source of *at least* 61 cases.

And they were responsible! Screening, tracking, masking before/after classes AND completely cleaning the rooms.

But it’s not enough. https://edition.cnn.com/2020/10/13/world/spinco-canada-covid-19-outbreak-trnd/index.html

It’s ventilation, length of exposure, mask use.

None of these gym owners are masked during interviews. Are their members masked when exercising?

What’s their ventilation like?

I’m seeing large rooms with little airflow, but I don’t know. Why weren’t they asked?

Per @trishgreenhalgh’s risk chart, exercise is a high risk activity *even in a ventilated space* if the members aren’t masked.

So @rtenews - why all the emphasis on disinfectant spray? Why no questions about airflow, mask use, occupancy rates?

It’s infuriating.