When will gyms reopen? Oswego State Fitness Centers’ plan to move and expand elsewhere
OSWEGO, N.Y. — Since the beginning of the pandemic, students have been limited to their own spaces. “As the restrictions against COVID begins to decline”, the release protocols for fitness centers have been attempting to reopen their gyms safely.
Many gym members and staff have not touched the gym since the beginning of last January, as health experts warn people that fitness centers could potentially put people at “high-risk”.
As campus communities such as SUNY Oswego, reach milestones of conducting over one million campus-administered COVID-19 tests, this gives a lot of hope of bringing normalcy back into their school. Students and fitness instructors, such as Olivia Smith, are looking forward to these positive changes as they anticipate the reopening of their gym as soon as possible.
Glimmerglass and Cooper fitness centers will utilize the Marano Campus Center’s ice arena, for a temporary gym space to help follow COVID mandates and provide a larger space to have students workout from a safer distance.
“MCC is the best place because I know a lot of our other spaces had a lot of problems with their ventilation systems, where it was either too small of a space or not enough air ventilation to go through it to comply with the COVID standards. Because there will be so much more room, our members will feel a lot more comfortable being in there and working out,” Smith said.
The Fitness Center plans to reopen February 23rd for students and employees. In the meantime, their staff will continue to maintain all their equipment and finalize any protocols and distancing guidelines, implemented by the school. Students must wear their masks, complete their daily health screening, and take their weekly COVID tests to be admitted into the gym.
“If you are going to a gym anywhere you have to follow most of these mandates anyway. I think people will be willing to sacrifice following those rules to keep everybody safe just because they will have the comfort of having the school gyms back on campus,” Smith shared. “Regardless this is not only a school and gym regulation but also looking out for the safety of oneself and others.”