Gym owner concerned another shutdown looms amid major spike in coronavirus cases

PITTSBURGH — As COVID-19 cases continue their meteoric rise, gym owners are joining the groups of other businesses concerned they may have to shut down again.

“If we have to go full virtual again, that’s a chance to lose more clients," Joanna Amelio said.

Amelio owns The Daily Method and said another shutdown would be a worst-case-scenario.

“(We’re) waiting for the other shoe to drop. Wrote my instructors today figuring out the next line of defense: what we will do to make sure everybody feels safe and figuring out how to keep this a livelihood,” Amelio said.

It’s been a tough year for gym owners. When the pandemic hit, they were forced to shut down and had to adapt to fully digital classes.

“It’s slowing now that we are having kids at home. You lose more and more as people get into the routine of what life is like now so it’s been a huge hit for the studio,” Amelio said.

She said several people managed to keep their memberships, but many others did not. She said some people are scaling back now amid this new wave of positive cases.

“Besides personally being disappointed, I feel bad for the gym owners because I think gyms can be just as safe as the local liquor store or your local Giant Eagle,” Sean Battin said.

Battin is a gym member and said it will be difficult to stay active this winter if gyms are forced to close or they have to adapt to more restrictions.

“In the summer when they closed we were lucky. I could run outside or go mountain biking but I think in the winter it’s going to be tough,” he said.

Gyms like Amelio’s have reported losing more than 30% of their clients during the pandemic.

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Cox Media Group