CALGARY (660 NEWS) — After some gym owners expressed their confusion about the latest changes in COVID-19 restrictions announced by the provincial government on Monday, Premier Jason Kenney and Health Minister Tyler Shandro tried to provide some more clarity.
The confusion largely centres around the distinction between low and high-intensity workouts, as low-intensity activities are allowed under the changed restrictions but high-intensity activities can only be done one-on-one with a trainer. However, what exactly constitutes a high-intensity workout could differ for each person.
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When asked about it during a press conference in Calgary on Tuesday, Shandro said they believe they can denote a difference.
“If you’re out of breath, it’s high intensity. If you’re not out of breath, it’s low intensity,” he said. “A lot of low-intensity cardio can be done on machines, a lot of low-intensity weightlifting as well. We’re asking people to keep themselves safe, keep everybody else around them safe, keep the patrons safe. Everybody wants that, the gym owners want that as well.”
Kenney said they engaged with many gym owners ahead of making the decision and he feels they struck a balance between meeting their desires to offer more activities while also ensuring people are protected.
“Over the past several months the fitness industry — gyms and others — had made a lot of submissions to Dr. Hinshaw and her team about how they could safely operate, and I know she took a very close look at that as well as the experience over in B.C. which has had pretty much these rules in place since last summer,” he said. “It is going to impose some responsibility on gym owners to carefully monitor their businesses to make sure that folks are staying COVID safe.”
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Kenney added this was also an evidence-based decision, based partly on how similar activities have been allowed in B.C. for some time, and acknowledges the risk of transmission is heightened during some exercises.
“Physical exertion close to others can be a high-risk cause of transmission. We all know through the science that the way this virus is transmitted is through droplets that can be projected if people are perspiring heavily, if they are exerting themselves physically. So, that kind of activity would be high risk.”
The updated restrictions also say that trainers must wear masks when with a client, but the person doing the exercise does not need to wear a mask.
Public health measures and clarification can be viewed here.
