Immediate Opening of the Economy with CATER 95 Masks

Here are Some of the Many Fit Testing Companies

More Transmissible Virus Found in UK, EU and SA

Trane Revenues Up in the Third Quarter

Planet Fitness Believes it has Been Shut Down Unfairly

Kansas Fitness Studio Suing State Over Shut Down

Minnesota Gym Closings Lead to Reaction From Owners

________________________________________________________________________

Immediate Opening of the Economy with CATER 95 Masks

If everyone (transmitters and recipients) were wearing CATER 95 masks the net viral reduction would be 99%. Because the virus can no longer move from the transmitter to a surface the overall risk is decreased by 98%. The most efficient vaccine is only 95%. CATER masks can quickly be made available. Facilities adopting the CATER 95 Protocol could immediately open.

CATER (Comfortable, Attractive, Tight Fitting, Efficient, Reusable) masks are available from multiple vendors who can supply all the needs quickly.

Industrial companies, corporate offices, retailers, gyms and any facility where the access is limited to CATER mask wearers should be able to operate normally. Each employee or visitor would have to wear an approved mask.

The CATER 95 is more than 90 times more effective than the typical mask now being worn. It is more than 70 times more effective than the proposed ASTM 20 mask. A facility which is 100% open with everyone wearing a CATER 95 mask will be 25 times safer than a facility which is only 25% open but allows any type of mask to be worn.

The ASTM 50 standard could be the baseline for what could be termed the ASTM 50 Plus Standards. These new qualitative ratings would involve both filter media efficiency and leak assessments.

The filter media efficiency is easier to quantify and can be supplied by Nelson Labs and the others in the business. Air leakage and the need for a tight fit is much more difficult to address.

The problem with public masks is the manner in which they are worn. A basic variable is mask size. Some suppliers offer five different sizes. If the right size is being worn what is the air in leakage (around not through the mask).

It is going to be impossible to set rigid standards. However multiple levels of accreditation can be incorporated.  The fit testing companies who would be capable of any degree of assessment can provide both qualitative and quantitative fit testing. Due to cost this testing would be mostly on typical individuals rather than each individual.  It could also be once per year in some settings where there is high concern.

 

A new class of providers could provide testing for individuals. The fitness centers would be a good example. They could offer services to nonmembers as well as members.

There would be people at the entrances of facilities. Their role could even be expanded to provide advice and do a visual inspection as to whether the person appears to be wearing the right size. 

Fitness centers can expand  the meaning of their name to actually do fit testing. We show an example below where a fitness center can expand from 25% capacity with non specified masks to 100%  capacity and generate  additional revenue by providing COVID  advice and fit testing.

Many of these fitness centers have physical therapists.  they could take some educational course similar to the one on filtration expertise offered by Waterloo filtration Institute

Schools would be a priority for CATER 95 mask bubbles.

With the 98% overall virus reduction every school could reopen. Lunchrooms could be fitted with HEPA filtered laminar air systems. Many of the HVAC upgrades would be less urgent and could be postponed to post COVID or at least initiated in a cost effective manner.

No visitors would be allowed inside the buildings unless they were wearing a CATER 95 efficiency mask or at least one with more than 90% efficiency. At the school entrance the guard could be knowledgeable about mask sizing and provide advice.  He could question individuals who might have an accredited mask but look to be wearing the wrong size mask.

Sports Teams could have their own masks with a logo for their fans.

The admission cost to a sports stadium could include the requirement of a CATER 95. Masks with the team logo could be offered for sale. There could be cursory scrutiny at the gate where the accreditation is checked along with visual inspection to determine if the right size of mask is apparently being worn.

All eating and drinking would be in designated areas adjacent to the food stands and would include HEPA filtered downward laminar flow air. Social distancing would not be required in this area if the laminar flow is at 50-100 fpm.

High end restaurants could attract large numbers of diners

A $30 CATER mask which would be usable for 30 or even 90 days is a small cost for someone paying $30 for a single meal. Restaurants could sell masks to customers and also provide advice so that the right size mask is worn.

In the actual dining area fan filter units (FFU) could be supplied to provide ceiling to floor HEPA filtered air. A table of four could be supplied by one ceiling unit costing less than $1000.  So a seating area for 100 people would only require a $25,000 investment in FFUs

The service staff will not be removing their masks. This gives diners confidence that they will not become infected from these individuals. 

Retail stores can profit from the clean air image.

Large retailers can have a kiosk at the store entrance. They can sell masks but also offer advice to customers on mask sizing and fit. We are forecasting a worldwide mask market in the next 12 months of $100 billion.  So these masks will outsell gym shoes and  all other items of clothing. 

COVID can be a reason to draw people to the stores.  The advice they will receive at the kiosk will give them comfort. The larger stores could even offer qualitative fit testing.

Gyms and fitness centers can instruct members and nonmembers on mask use and increase profits to more than pre COVID levels.

The Minnesota governor confirmed, beginning Saturday, Dec. 19, gyms can open at 25% capacity or have up to 100 people inside at a time. People also have to now wear masks at all times and keep 12 feet of distance between everyone.

"It's not lost on me we're fighting a health care pandemic," said Gov. Walz. "Why would we not want people to be as healthy as they could?" He added that gyms have "figured out smart ways and thought about things, so we hear you on that."

The Minnesota Department of Health has always maintained gyms are just naturally risky environments and precautions will lower the risk, not eliminate it. While larger gyms have long argued the spaces are not the source of community spread. 

The fact that no minimum mask efficiency is stipulated makes this regulation almost meaningless. People would be much safer with CATER 95 masks and 100% occupancy. Health is a skill set provided by gym owners.  They can offer their members advice on mask selection.  Larger fitness centers may even want to offer at least qualitative testing and expand the meaning of “Fitness” for the centers.

The fit testing could be offered to nonmembers as well as members and generate significant revenues. Fit testing requires various movements during the tests. So the fitness center is uniquely qualified. 

Gym-based physical therapy is a popular new trend, and for good reason. Personal trainers, gym owners, physical therapists, and clients are seeing the multiple benefits of a close connection and good communication between physical therapists and fitness professionals. A physical therapist can be vital to a fitness program and achieving fitness goals.

There could be some mask education course including fit testing which could be provided by universities, associations, or even governments. So the therapists could be accredited to verify that a person is wearing  a mask which meets the minimum standards. The accreditation could be similar to a drivers license. The testers who ride with new drivers may need courage but do not have to have PHD level knowledge.

Some organizations could take a proactive role. IHRSA is one. The mission of the International Health, Racquet & Sportsclub Association (IHRSA) is to grow, protect, and promote the health and fitness industry, and to provide its members with the benefits that will help them be more successful. IHRSA and its members (health clubs and fitness facilities, gyms, spas, sports clubs, and industry suppliers) are dedicated to make the world healthier through regular exercise. This mission can be expanded to also making the world healthier through fit testing and mask advice.  IHRSA could offer training courses so that each club could have people who can authoritatively attest to mask fitness.

With 100% occupancy and an additional revenue source gyms could immediately become more profitable than ever. The use of Fan Filter Units in the locker rooms would be a modest additional cost. To reduce the cost further there could be a protocol where masks are worn in the locker room and taken off only in the shower and toweling area. This would result in a very small area needed to be covered by fan filter units.

Here are Some of the Many Fit Testing Companies

Concentra is a healthcare company specializing in occupational health and conducts both qualitative and quantitative fit tests https://www.concentra.com/physical-exams/respirator-fit-test/respirator-consultation/

Bio-Care began providing services to the Great Lakes region in 1993 and has since grown to support business and organizations throughout the Eastern United States, with on-site medical testing services. The focus is to provide medical screening services that assist  clients in meeting their regulatory compliance requirements while also enhancing employee health and safety.

Services include Respiratory FIT Testing, Pulmonary Function Test, Physical Exams, Hearing Testing, Vaccinations, Flu Shots, Wellness Programs.

Respsafety  has an online system to provide fit testing checking validation for OSHA compliance  for as little as $15 per individual  https://respsafety.com/

Fit Testers, Inc. travels throughout the United States performing respiratory fit testing and training.  They perform both Quantitative and Qualitative fit testing.  They use the TSI  8020 portacounts.  Fit Testers will also help your company with scheduling to make the respiratory program run as smoothly as possible.  They provide services to chemical plants, fire department, mines and all companies that have employees who are required to wear respiratory protection.

Mercy Urgent Care conducts qualitative fit-testing, a pass/fail test method that uses your sense of taste or smell to detect leakage into the respirator facepiece. Whether the respirator passes or fails the test is based simply on you detecting leakage of the test substance into your facepiece. Mercy uses both Saccharin, which leaves a sweet taste in the mouth, and Bitrex, which leaves a bitter taste in the mouth, to test masks for leakage.

https://mercyurgentcare.org/n95-respirator-mask-fit-testing/

Examinetics offers both qualitative and quantitative fit testing and has been covered in detail in previous alerts

More Transmissible Virus Found in UK, EU and SA

A mutation which apparently makes the virus 70% more transmissible has been found in the UK, Belgium, Italy, and South Africa. Scientists are worried about these variants but not surprised by them. Researchers have recorded thousands of tiny modifications in the genetic material of the coronavirus as it has hopscotched across the world.

Strict lockdown rules to stop the spread of a new fast-moving strain of COVID-19 may have to be applied to all of England "and not reduced", the country's chief scientific adviser has warned. Sir Patrick Vallance, the U.K. government's science chief, said that due to household mixing over Christmas "there will be increases in numbers [of COVID cases] over the next few weeks."

Speaking at a press conference at 10 Downing Street, Vallance said it is "likely" that the current lockdown measures in England "may need to be increased in some places in due course and not reduced". Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced a strict new lockdown for millions on Saturday which has seen people's holiday plans ruined under a warning to stay at home, just days after Johnson said it would be "inhuman" to cancel Christmas.

The restrictions came after scientists discovered a new variant of COVID-19 in England's southeast that could be up to 70 percent more transmissible. The new strain is fast-moving, scientists have said, but does not appear to be deadlier or have an impact on the success of a COVID vaccine. With evidence suggesting the new variant spreads more easily, Vallance was asked why the whole of England was not placed under the toughest "tier 4" stay at home lockdown measures. This currently applies to London, Kent, Essex and swathes of the southeast of England, and will see people unable to form bubbles with other households over Christmas

In South Africa, a similar version of the virus has emerged, sharing one of the mutations seen in the British variant, according to scientists who detected it. That virus has been found in up to 90 percent of the samples whose genetic sequences have been analyzed in South Africa since mid-November.

Some variants become more common in a population simply by luck, not because the changes somehow supercharge the virus. But as it becomes more difficult for the pathogen to survive — because of vaccinations and growing immunity in human populations — researchers also expect the virus to gain useful mutations enabling it to spread more easily or to escape detection by the immune system.

“It’s a real warning that we need to pay closer attention,” said Jesse Bloom, an evolutionary biologist at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle. “Certainly these mutations are going to spread, and, definitely, the scientific community — we need to monitor these mutations and we need to characterize which ones have effects.”

The British variant has about 20 mutations, including several that affect how the virus locks onto human cells and infects them. These mutations may allow the variant to replicate and transmit more efficiently, said Muge Cevik, an infectious disease expert at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland and a scientific adviser to the British government.

But the estimate of greater transmissibility — British officials said the variant was as much as 70 percent more transmissible — is based on modeling and has not been confirmed in lab experiments, Dr. Cevik added.

Trane Revenues Up in the Third Quarter

Here are highlights relative to third quarter performance

• Strong execution drove continuing EPS and operating income growth despite ongoing COVID-19 pandemic related impacts.
• Enterprise reported and organic bookings up 7 percent driven by Americas and EMEA.
• Enterprise reported revenues were up 1 percent; enterprise organic revenues were up 50 basis points.
• GAAP operating margin was up 70 basis points, adjusted operating margin was up 80 basis points, and adjusted EBITDA margin was up 80 basis points, driven by strong performance across all three segments.

The Americas segment encompasses commercial heating and cooling systems, building controls, and energy services and solutions; residential heating and cooling; and transport refrigeration systems and solutions.

• Americas continued to be impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the quarter.
• Strong operating performance in Americas was primarily driven by Residential and Commercial HVAC.
• Americas reported and organic bookings were both up 8 percent.
• Reported and organic revenues were up 1 and 2 percent, respectively. Commercial HVAC organic revenues were flat. Residential HVAC organic revenues were up high-teens. Transport organic revenues were down more than 20 percent. Commercial HVAC service revenues continued to outperform equipment.
• GAAP operating margin increased 70 basis points, adjusted operating margin increased 30 basis points and adjusted EBITDA margin increased 60 basis points. Strong productivity, execution and price more than offset lower Transport volumes and revenue mix shift.

Brooke Sutherland of Bloomberg has analyzed the performance and interviewed Michael Lamach CEO of Trane. She writes that since Lamach became CEO in 2010, the company’s market value has tripled to more than $30 billion. Trane, a heating and cooling specialist, began trading as a standalone company in early March, just weeks before the coronavirus pandemic turned the world upside down. Its debut was the capstone of a decade-long transformation that began with a laggard climate business acquired by the former Ingersoll-Rand Plc in the throes of the financial crisis and ended with that same business becoming the company’s crown jewel. Valued at more than 27 times next year’s earnings, investors are now willing to pay more for Tr.ane’s future profits than those of most of its top peers

Ingersoll-Rand acquired the business for about $10 billion in 2008, roughly three months before the financial crisis boiled over with the collapse of Lehman Brothers. When the deal was struck, Lamach was running Ingersoll-Rand’s security-products unit. But it soon became clear Ingersoll-Rand had miscalculated on Trane, leaving it with a bloated debt load and a business that badly trailed competitors on technology. Lamach’s job — first as head of Trane’s commercial division, then chief operating officer and eventually CEO — was to clean up the mess.

Trane invested hundreds of millions of dollars developing technology with next-generation refrigerants that relied on alternative chemicals that contribute less to global warming. It was the first HVAC company to do so, according to Lamach, and had no revenue to show for it until the first products — now labeled EcoWise — hit the market in 2013. It took several more years (until about 2016 by Lamach’s estimate) for Wall Street to pay attention to Trane’s technology advantage. Only by 2018 was the company clearly outperforming its peers. Trane now pairs the alternative refrigerants with software systems that scrape data from buildings and give recommendations on curbing energy use and improving air quality. Other recent advances include technology released to the European market that eliminates the need for separate boilers and chillers, boosting efficiency by as much as 400% compared with traditional systems.

The company’s environmental and financial goals have become so intertwined that when Lamach was preparing a strategy update for the board in late 2018, he realized 90% of what he was writing echoed the company’s sustainability initiative and decided just to present that instead. That’s where Trane’s 2030 goals came from. The idea of reducing its customers’ emissions by one gigaton may seem like a feel-good marketing pitch, but it’s also an outcome that people are more than willing to pay for, as evidenced by the improvement in Trane’s profit margins over the years. This combination of financial returns and environmentally friendly products got Lamach named one of Harvard Business Review’s top-performing CEOs in 2019. The company’s sustainability goals were also a major driver in the decision to divest Ingersoll-Rand’s hodgepodge industrial unit earlier this year; the potential to curb emissions through the Trane business was so much greater that it became “hard to manage the internal messaging,” Lamach said. 

Lamach’s view of a company as an interconnected system. Faced with a new crisis in the pandemic, he’s repeating his Great Recession playbook and taking the long-term view once again. That means funneling money toward the development of Trane’s next great technological innovation, albeit with a better balance sheet this time around. “We’re playing aggressive offense so that we can come out of this stronger and with a bigger lead than when we went in,” Lamach said. “It would be criminal if we didn’t do that.” But it also explains why he shut down the company’s factories in March. 

“In a lot of the communities where we worked, we were the largest employer. These are places where there’s not a lot of industry. You could potentially damage a community if you’re not operating the right way,” Lamach said. “I knew we were going to get hammered in first-quarter earnings. I never really thought there was a second choice.” Indeed, when Trane reported its first-quarter results in May, its earnings per share missed analysts’ estimates by the widest margin in data going back to 2009. Trane shares fell 3.5% in the first down earnings day since 2017. But it never had to shut down a plant or line again. 

That’s been a good thing because business has been fairly busy, with the home-improvement craze extending to HVAC upgrades and businesses navigating the tricky task of making people feel comfortable again in shared indoor spaces. Trane’s Thermo King refrigerated trailer business is also ramping up production of freezer parts to help transport an eventual coronavirus vaccine. Lamach is worried about the broader economy: “If this many people are unemployed, at what point does that catch up with us?” But so far, Trane hasn’t had to do major layoffs because of the pandemic.

Planet Fitness Believes it has Been Shut Down Unfairly

Planet Fitness isn’t taking Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s decision to roll back the city’s coronavirus reopening to Phase 2, Step 2 laying down.

Last week, the worldwide fitness company headquartered in Hampton, N.H., issued a press release saying that there is “zero evidence” of significant spread of the coronavirus at any of its 75 Massachusetts locations.

Due to the city’s reopening rollback, which impacts businesses like gyms, museums, and movie theaters, Planet Fitness will close its five Boston locations for a minimum of three weeks starting on Wednesday.

Planet Fitness senior public relations manager Becky Zirlen detailed the company’s data in a statement.

“Through more than 3 million check-ins since reopening in the state, Planet Fitness has had only .001125 percent of check-ins who later tested positive, with zero evidence these cases originated in the gyms,” Zirlen said. “That is 1.1 positive cases per every 100,000 check-ins.”

Planet Fitness franchisee Stan DeMartinis, who oversees 10 locations in the Boston area including the impacted locations in East Boston and Dorchester, said he was frustrated by the city’s decision.

“We’ve learned so much since March when we were first shut down,” DeMartinis told Boston.com. “In March, we understood the shutdown. But the fact is that we’re one of the only industries out there that can contact trace our members, because they check in all of the time. Our position is going to remain very firm: Fitness is essential, it’s safe, and we should be able to remain open in our communities because of the benefits we give to the consumer.”

Planet Fitness, which has more than 2,000 locations worldwide, developed a 98-page reopening protocol for its approach to “social fitnessing.” According to DeMartinis, the protocols include touch-less check-in, sanitation stations throughout its gyms, regular cleaning of surfaces with top-grade chemicals, fitness machines that are at least 6 to 8 feet apart, and an air purifier that cycles new air through the facility five to seven times an hour.

In his press conference on Monday, Walsh said that the rollback procedures weren’t “targeting specific sectors.” But DeMartinis doesn’t see it that way.

“In early March, we absolutely got lumped in with the bars, the restaurants, the nightclubs, the bowling alleys, and all that stuff,” DeMartinis said. “And so be it, we didn’t have the data. But now nine months into it, we have plenty of data, and there’s more research coming out every day. And it’s almost like, unfortunately, they don’t want to listen to it.”

DeMartinis said that while he has worked effectively with city leadership in Revere and other municipalities that he operates in, he hasn’t enjoyed the same relationship in Boston.

“I think the city of Boston is overwhelmed,” DeMartinis said. “I run two gyms in that city, and they’ve never contacted me once this whole time. They just want to shut me down. That’s where the frustration comes in.”

DeMartinis stressed that the safety of Planet Fitness members and employees remained the company’s top priority. But he said that he believes members who have continued to work out at Planet Fitness during the pandemic view going to the gym as a “constitutional right.”

“Where we are in the country today, not to get into politics, but half the people want to work out and half don’t,” DeMartinis said. “Our members that come in right now are members who have made their assessment of risk. They feel safe in their environment to work out. They feel they have a constitutional right to do that. And that is being taken away from them.”

Kansas Fitness Studio Suing State Over Shut Down

A Wichita fitness studio and its owner are suing Kansas for compensation for being forced to shut down and reopen with restrictions during the coronavirus pandemic.

The lawsuit filed this week in Sedgwick County District Court by Ryan Floyd and Omega Bootcamps Inc. argues that the state used his and the business’ private property “for the benefit of the general public.”

The lawsuit cites part of the state’s emergency management law that says people can pursue claims for compensation in court if their property is “commandeered or otherwise used” by state or local officials.

The Kansas attorney general’s office declined comment, saying it’s reviewing the lawsuit.

Minnesota Gym Closings Lead to Reaction from Owners

Minnesota shut down gyms in early December with a promise to review the situation after the first of the year. The reaction to the decision was reported in the Star Tribune.

Two years ago, Jeffrey Scott left a 25-year career in financial services to open a gym on Minneapolis' North Side, where he went to high school.

Now, after a second state-ordered shutdown of fitness centers to fight coronavirus, Scott's gym is facing grim prospects. "It's once again devolving to the point where I honestly don't know whether we'll survive it," he said.

With Minnesota's 800 gyms closed at least through next week — and Gov. Tim Walz expected on Monday to say whether they will stay closed into January — many other fitness club owners and operators fear long-term damage.

When the coronavirus arrived this spring, Walz ordered businesses that draw large groups of people, like restaurants and fitness centers, to close from mid-March through early June. As virus cases surged last month, Walz on Nov. 18 ordered another closure for at least four weeks.

The Minnesota Department of Health's contact tracers in September began asking Minnesotans who tested positive for COVID-19 about their use of fitness centers. That research identified 48 outbreaks of coronavirus involving 734 gym members and three employees. The most cases, 80, were tied to a fitness center at the University of Minnesota, one of six college campus gyms with an outbreak.

At least 734 cases have been tied to people who were at fitness centers.

Data as of Nov. 18, 2020

 

While the numbers are small compared with the 242,000 Minnesotans who tested positive through Nov. 18, state health officials say they set a high bar for pegging a gym's involvement in spread of the virus. They believe the virus spreads through fitness centers at a greater rate than data captures.

"The longer you are near someone in a smaller space and if you're doing things that make you breathe harder, the chance of infections go up," Walz said on Dec. 1 as he acknowledged the inconsistency of closing health clubs while big retailers and liquor stores are open.

With executives from Minnesota-based chains Life Time, Anytime and Snap Fitness leading the way, the state's fitness executives and owners have waged a campaign to pressure Walz to let them reopen. They offered to adopt more stringent safety measures, including reducing occupancy to 10 from 25% and requiring people to wear masks as they work out.

They dispute the Health Department's view of the data and portrayal of the risks people face in gyms. And they note they're in the business of helping people fight obesity, diabetes and other risk factors for severe cases of COVID-19.

"There is gross negligence in the decision making process," said Bahram Akradi, founder and chief executive of Chanhassen-based Life Time, which has 152 clubs nationwide and 23 in Minnesota. The firm filed a data practices request with the state about the spread or transmission of COVID-19 at fitness centers.

"We're in the health business," said Chuck Runyon, chief executive of Self-Esteem Brands, which operates Anytime Fitness. "This isn't just 'come work out and let's charge money.' We all have to take health seriously as club owners. We're taking COVID seriously."

John and Kelsey Schultz believe they've been responsible gym owners. They sold 13 pieces of equipment to make it easier to social distance at their Anytime Fitness gyms in Sartell and Sauk Rapids. They hired someone specifically to clean those two facilities and their yoga business in Sartell, called KPower Yoga.

Since reopening, three people have called the gym to say they'd tested positive for COVID. Because the clubs now require registration for classes, Kelsey Schultz said she could easily notify everyone in the class to get tested, even identifying those standing next to the infected member.

"In every case we quarantined them from the gym until they got tested and could wait some time out. None of those led to additional positive cases," she said. "You can say there's three cases, but it didn't come from the gym."

Brandon Reiter, owner of Plainview Wellness Center in Plainview, kept it open after the Nov. 18 closure order, which he called "a massive overreach that will harm a lot of small businesses." Attorney General Keith Ellison sued Reiter and, last week, a judge ruled in the state's favor.

"I respect the judge's decision, although I don't agree with it," Reiter said. "I knew it was going to be an uphill battle."

There's scant data about how the coronavirus spreads in gyms. Studies from the British journal Nature and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest that working out at gyms may be less risky than other activities, though researchers in both studies acknowledged limitations.

The International Health, Racquet and Sportsclub Association (IHRSA), a trade group, sponsored a study that found a "virus-to-visit" ratio of 0.002% out of 49.4 million gym visits between June and August. Some experts questioned the research, but the figures have been cited often by Minnesota's fitness leaders and the IHRSA, which stands by them.

"We understand that the risk of contracting COVID-19 is not — and can never be — zero for any business," IHRSA spokesperson Sami Smith said in an e-mail. "Overall, health and fitness clubs are not hot spots."

Minnesota health officials identified outbreaks at 10 Life Time locations, with two clubs tied to separate outbreaks. The clubs were linked to 198 confirmed coronavirus cases.

Life Time's corporate figures show an infection rate of less than 1% among 3.17 million visits to its Minnesota gyms since reopening. Mitigation efforts such as sophisticated air purification systems and massive cleaning protocols are working, Akradi said.

Akradi said his larger concern is the beating the industry has suffered at the hands of public officials who give the impression that clubs aren't safe.

Congress and the Legislature are debating whether to provide special financial relief to health clubs. A bipartisan bill introduced in Congress in early October would provide $30 billion in grants to club owners, capped at 10% of losses of the 2019 revenue, or $10 million.

https://www.startribune.com/minnesota-s-fitness-industry-pushes-state-officials-to-let-them-reopen-gyms/573358411/