Gyms and fitness centers in 89 Tennessee counties can reopen Friday, Gov. Bill Lee announced Tuesday.
Lee issued voluntary guidelines for the reopening of these facilities. The guidelines encourage gyms to operate at limited capacity and follow the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s guidelines on sanitization and social distancing.
“Exercise is incredibly important for the physical and mental health of our population, and we want Tennesseans to have access to safe environments where they can exercise as appropriate,” Lee said in a statement. “These guidelines outline best practices in keeping with recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and health experts for gyms to reopen in a way that will keep their employees and customers safe.”
The guidelines encourage these gyms to operate at 50 percent of the capacity allowed by the fire code, ensure that people are 6 feet away from each other during group activities and place equipment 6 feet apart. Gyms are encouraged to keep locker rooms, showers, common areas and water fountains closed for the time being.
Gyms also are encouraged to check customers’ temperatures and question customers as to whether they’ve experienced COVID-19 symptoms. They also are encouraged to require customers to clean equipment with disinfectant before and after use.
In a news conference Tuesday, Lee said it is important for Tennesseans’ mental and physical health that they have access to these workout environments.
Restaurants in 89 counties reopened Monday, and retail shops will be able to reopen Wednesday. Lee also provided guidelines for them to operate at a limited capacity.
Six other counties – Shelby, Madison, Davidson, Hamilton, Knox and Sullivan – have their own health departments and are reopening on their own schedule. Madison, Hamilton and Sullivan counties have begun reopening, and Knox is prepared to reopen part of its economy Friday. Shelby and Davidson counties have unveiled plans for reopening, but have not yet set dates.
Tennessee has surpassed 10,000 COVID-19 cases. The Department of Health reported Tuesday there were 10,052 cases, including 188 deaths. More than 4,900 people have recovered, 881 are hospitalized and 161,926 tests have been conducted.
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a novel coronavirus. The disease has caused at least 58,906 deaths in the U.S., with more than 1.03 million confirmed cases in the country. COVID-19 symptoms appear within two to 14 days after exposure and include fever, cough, difficulty breathing, chills, repeated shaking with chills, muscle pain, headache, sore throat and new loss of taste or smell.
