Safely opening gyms in Norway

Norway, especially Oslo, has plenty of Covid-19 cases. (Oslo’s population is about 681,000. As of July 18, they had 9,029 cases and 255 deaths.) Nevertheless, they have opened their gyms as a result of a scientific study in which scientists conducted a randomized trial to test whether people who work out at gyms with modest restrictions are at greater risk of infection than those who do not.

The research included five gyms in Oslo with 3,764 members ages 18 to 64 who had no underlying medical conditions. Half were invited to go back to their gyms and work out. The other half were not allowed to return to their gyms. Those who returned to the gyms were required to wash their hands and to maintain social distancing: three feet apart for floor exercises, and six feet apart in high-intensity classes. They could use their lockers, but not the saunas or showers. They were not asked to wear masks. During the two weeks of the study, 79.5 percent of the members used their gyms at least once; 38.4 percent went more than six times.

Over the course of the two-week trials, there were 207 new coronavirus cases in Oslo, but no one using the gym contracted the disease. Skeptics are questioning the results, thinking that no one was infected in the gyms because there were very few COVID-19 cases in the city when the study was done—not because working up a sweat on the treadmill or lifting weights in the midst of a pandemic is safe. But hey:  1,896 people worked out at the gyms and none got infected! I’m a glass half full person.

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