NEW YORK (WCBS 880) — Gyms across much of New York are reopening at 33% capacity Monday as the infection rate in the state remained below 1 percent yesterday for the 16th consecutive day.
At a Planet Fitness in Yonkers, a growing crowd did stretches on the sidewalk in the morning as they waited for the doors to open. Management was a couple of hours later arriving for long-awaited reopening, WCBS 880's Steve Burns reported.
The gymgoers lined up outside the location all had masks along with a sense of responsibility around health and safety measures that are now required, including social distancing, wiping down equipment and signing in so there are records if need be for contact tracers.
"We're just all wearing masks and washing our hands and using common sense, we're not being reckless, but at the same time getting our workouts in and being healthy," one gymgoer said.
"I'm pretty confident that things will work out as long as people are cleaning up after themselves I think the plans are going to work," said one man who plans on going to the gym five days a week.
Each gym was required to submit its plans with local authorities and over the next two weeks, health inspectors will be sent out to look at each facility.
Meanwhile, people in New York City and New Jersey are still waiting to get a workout in.
In the city, Mayor Bill de Blasio has announced a Sept. 2 reopening once health inspectors are done looking at schools.
"We're very careful, cautious about reopening gyms," de Blasio said Friday. "We're following the order. Gyms will start to reopen September 2nd. There'll be limits on the number of people and limits on the kind of activities."
Nothing is set yet in New Jersey, but Gov. Phil Murphy said late last week he believes they are very close to a reopening.
On Sunday, Gov. Andrew Cuomo also reported its lowest numbers since the pandemic began for ICU patients and intubations.
Low-risk cultural institutions, including museums and aquariums, are allowed to reopen at 25% capacity in New York City on Monday. Despite the go-ahead, several museums are opting to wait, including the Met and the Natural History Museum.