Philly Gyms Petition City To Reopen, Protest Planned Tuesday

PHILADELPHIA — A group of gym owners in Philadelphia are pleading to officials as they are shut down in the second wave of restrictions due to spikes in the coronavirus.

The Philadelphia Fitness Coalition have launched a petition urging the city to allow fitness to be a priority for physical and mental health of Phialdelphians.

Gyms are just one of the many industries impacted by the new restrictions, which went into effect at 5 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20. The new restrictions are slated to lat through at least Jan. 1.

The coalition's Change.org petition as of Monday morning has nearly 2,000 of the 2,500 signature goal.

"We collected data on over 260,000 indoor visits from July to Nov 2020 and ONLY 30 reported cases walked into our locations," the petition reads. "There was a 0% transmission rate traced from person to person. Not a single person contracted COVID from our facilities."

The more than 30 gyms that make up the coalition want to have an "open discussion and consideration with decision makers in the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, the Mayor and the Chamber of Commerce within 2 weeks" regarding the reopening of gyms.

When the new restrictions were announced lat week, Philadelphia Health Commissioner Dr. Farley said due to the increased cases and positivity rates, what was once safe — such as going to a gym — is now dangerous.

The coalition is planning a workout protest outside Cit Hall at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.