In-Shape to require vaccinated customers wear masks
The rule starts August 1 at all In-Shape fitness centers, including those in Solano County.
(An In-Shape Health Club in Vacaville is pictured in an undated image. Photo: Google Maps)
Health club chain In-Shape says it will require members to wear face masks when entering its fitness centers and gyms throughout the state, including locations in Solano County.
The move was announced in an e-mail sent to In-Shape customers on Thursday, and comes as local officials throughout California grapple with a rise in cases involving the “Delta” variant of the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
Like other businesses, In-Shape has not required face masks of its customers if they either provide proof that they have received a COVID-19 vaccine or self-attest to having received one. That practice came after state health officials scrapped a region-based color-coded system in June that largely lifted strict pandemic-related restrictions for residents and businesses.
Local and state officials have been hesitant to re-implement those restrictions, which limited the types of indoor services that businesses could provide and capped their customer capacity. Instead, some officials have started requiring businesses to implement a hard masking policy that applies to all customers, regardless of their vaccination status.
Earlier this week, officials in Yolo County said they would require businesses institute a face mask policy for all customers where indoor services are provided. Solano County officials have, so far, been reluctant to do the same, despite a similar increase in infections and hospitalizations related to the COVID-19 virus here.
But some businesses see the writing on the wall — during the pandemic, local officials have set policies that are eventually implemented at the state level. In-Shape’s fitness centers are located in counties where hard masking restrictions have been implemented, or will be soon, as well as in counties with no policy at the moment.
Regardless, the fitness chain is moving forward with its masking policy, which will apply at all of its fitness centers in California. Starting August 1, In-Shape members will be required to wear a face mask when they enter the premise.
Vaccinated members are allowed to work out without a mask, though the health chain says masks are “strongly encouraged when working out indoors.” (The company has an exception for its health clubs in Los Angeles and Yolo counties, where masks must be worn at all times by customers who work out indoors.)
“Masks are required for everyone inside the Kid Zone at all times, [and] our team members will be wearing masks at all times,” the company said.
As of Thursday, no other major gym serving Solano County had announced a similar move for its members.
In-Shape’s move may be predicated in part on economic concerns: The company was severely impacted by state health orders that forced it to close at the peak of the pandemic last year. In-Shape was part of a state-wide coalition of health clubs and gyms to lobby state officials for a reduction in restrictions, a move that was largely unsuccessful.
Last December, In-Shape announced it was filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, with its chief executive blaming economic woes brought on by the pandemic as the primary cause for its bankruptcy petition.
“[California’s] extended shutdown of gyms has dramatically impacted our business, which is requiring us to develop a plan to restructure our business for the future,” Francesca Schuler, the company’s CEO, said in a statement.
In January, In-Shape requested a federal judge to terminate its bankruptcy petition after the company said it did not have enough financial backing to go through with a re-payment plan. One month later, the judge overseeing In-Shape’s bankruptcy case approved a sale of its assets to a limited liability company operated by In-Shape’s key executive and lenders.
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