Dear Dr. Davis,

Regarding your letter to Governor Lamont dated 11/24/20, we share and 100% support your concern for COVID-19 patients and all of the hardworking people caring for them.  Sincerely, THANK YOU for all you and others have done these past 8+ months to help people.

We write today to express our concern over your request that all gyms be closed.

We’re not trying to be adversarial in any way.  Instead, we’d like to share some information you may not be aware of.

Since the start of this pandemic, gyms have repeatedly been mentioned in the media as potential sources of spread.  Without following the safety protocols issued by Governor Lamont and his team, that perhaps could’ve happened.  In fact though, gyms have not been the source of spread in CT. 

All gyms throughout the state were shut down for 94 days, and re-opened with appropriate protocols on June 17th .  We’ve worked diligently every day since, adhering to these protocols, to keep members and staff healthy and safe.

On November 16th, NBC Connecticut published data from CT’s Department of Public Health showing the origins of COVID-19 clusters.  Without including all the outbreaks from healthcare settings or colleges & universities, they contact traced (69) community clusters in CT.

Of those (69), only (4) originated from “sports facilities”.  Of those (4), hockey arenas were the source of at least (3) of them.  Throughout communications with different people who handled this data, there was actually zero information on any of these clusters originating in gyms.

To put this in perspective, since re-opening on June 17th, gym employees have helped over 250,000 CT residents thru literally 3+ million workouts.  Through all of that activity, there was zero information on any of those (69) clusters originating in gyms.

Again, we share and 100% support your concern.  If there are any businesses out there, in any industry, not adhering to protocols and contributing to the spread of COVID-19, they rightly should be held responsible (as the state has already done in a few cases), rather than needlessly shutting down entire industries and putting thousands of good people out of work again.

Please support keeping gyms open and accessible for the hundreds of thousands of CT residents who need and rely on them for their physical & mental health and well-being.

Thank you for your time.

Yours in health,

Keep CT Fit