PETITION

As a member of the Minnesota small boutique fitness studio community, I have applauded your leadership on your handling the Coronavirus pandemic in our state. We are now in various phases of re-opening businesses across the state and I implore you to reexamine the broad category of business defined as ‘fitness’ to consider allowing small, boutique fitness studios offering primarily Pilates and yoga training be allowed to reopen June 1st. Small fitness studios differ from big box gyms and fitness centers in the following ways:

* Unlike other methods of movement that provoke heavy breathing and sweating, Pilates and Yoga focuses on functional movement patterns. 

* After studying an outbreak in South Korea in a large fitness center, it was concluded that: 

“Classes from which secondary COVID-19 cases were identified included 5–22 students in a room ≈60 m2 during 50 minutes of intense exercise. We did not identify cases among classes with <5 participants in the same space. Of note, instructor C taught Pilates and yoga for classes of 7–8 students in the same facility at the same time as instructor B (Figure; Appendix Table 2), but none of her students tested positive for the virus. We hypothesize that the lower intensity of Pilates and yoga did not cause the same transmission effects as those of the more intense fitness dance classes.” CDC Study Volume 26, Number 8 August 2020, Cluster Coronavirus Disease Associated with Fitness Dance Classes, South Korea.

Services are primarily one-on-one training (1 instructor/1 client) and small groups of no more than four (4) people.
Services are by appointment only. 
With 14,000 square feet of space, my fitness studio easily accommodates MORE THAN 6 feet of physical distancing.
All Covid19 CDC sanitization guidelines met
One employee on staff has received their certificate of completion for the Contact Tracing program through Johns Hopkins University.
No physical contact, unlike nail salons, massage therapists, physical therapists, and  tattoo artists
No basketball court, pool, huge locker room
Can restrict congregating in common areas
Masks worn by all staff
All other fitness training and classes offered virtually only
Given the vast differences between small, micro-gyms and fitness studios with an ability to control the environment and provide as safe an experience if not safer than services that require physical contact, I ask that a separate category of ‘fitness’ be made for small, boutique fitness and wellness studios be created and allowed to open June 1, 2020. 

We have been closed since March 16th. Revenue has dropped significantly. Unless we are allowed to open our doors, we are at great risk of closing our doors forever.

Thank you.

Gayle Winegar, President and Owner

The Sweatshop Health Club

Saint Paul, MN