Portland area gyms, which have been operating under severe restrictions since November, may reopen for internal training for up to 50 people, starting on Friday.
COVID-19 infections are in sharp decline across the state, so Oregon said on Tuesday that it is preparing to move a dozen counties to a lower level of risk rating – including the three counties closest to Portland.
In Oregon’s largest counties, restaurants and bars can now resume in-house service, and gyms can substantially increase the number of members allowed inland.
Fitness centers are among the most severely affected by Oregon’s business restrictions, which interrupted in-house training in much of the state last November due to increased coronavirus infections.
Academies say the restrictions threaten their survival and lobby for the state to loosen the rules, with limited success. Governor Kate Brown relaxed gym restrictions a bit last month, allowing up to six clients to enter.
Then, on Tuesday, Brown’s office announced that 10 counties are leaving the “extreme risk” rating. Under state rules, this means that gyms can allow up to 50 people, or 25% of capacity, whichever is less.
“It is an important step that will allow increasing access to health and fitness facilities in many of Oregon’s most populous counties,” said Jennifer Sitton of the Oregon Health & Fitness Alliance, which formed last fall to lobby against the Governor’s closing request for gyms.
However, Sitton said the new rules provide only modest relief to major gyms, as some of Oregon’s largest gyms are hundreds of thousands of square feet.
People who exercise in gyms should still wear masks most of the time and keep their distance from other people on the premises.
The science of how the coronavirus spreads is still in its infancy. There is some evidence, since the beginning of the pandemic, that gyms were high-risk sites in a period before masks were widely adopted.
However, gyms and exercise enthusiasts note that gyms offer well-documented health benefits, encouraging people to exercise. Gorge Athletic Clubs owner Dianna Risley said she and other gym owners are frustrated because the governor has not consulted them about their terms and exasperated because their rules keep changing.
“I think she received a lot more resistance than she should because she was not consistent with the information and was not transparent,” said Risley. She owns gyms in Hood River and The Dalles.
Hood River County’s may open more on Friday as it moves into a lower-risk category, but The Dalles’s remains under the strictest limits.
“We believe that the pandemic is real. We understand when they are telling us how the pandemic spreads, ”said Risley. “And we want to be asked, what can we do to operate safely?”
Counties in the “high risk” category generally have less than 200 cases per 100,000 residents over a two-week period, which qualifies companies to welcome customers back indoors. Municipalities with fewer cases per capita may increase the number of people allowed inside the home.
Fourteen counties remain classified as “extreme risk”, including Benton, Marion and Yamhill. The Courthouse Club Fitness, in Marion County, has been the strongest opponent of Oregon’s gym restrictions. He continued to operate despite the governor’s closing order in November and was fined $ 90,000 that month and a record $ 127,000 in January.
The counties that came out of the “extreme risk” category on Friday are Clackamas, Clatsop, Columbia, Deschutes, Hood River, Klamath, Linn, Morrow, Multnomah and Washington.
The counties still under the most severe “extreme risk” restrictions are Benton, Coos, Crook, Jackson, Jefferson, Josephine, Lane, Malheur, Marion, Polk, Umatilla, Union, Wasco and Yamhill.
– Mike Rogoway