Province to review gym guidelines as COVID-19 outbreak at Hamilton spin studio hits 72 cases

After a COVID-19outbreak at a Hamilton spin studio that's infected at least 72people, Ontario's associate medical officer of health has directed the province to"reconsider" guidelinesmeant to stop the spread of the virus infitness settings.

Dr. Barbara Yaffe said she's spoken with local public health officials about theoutbreak at Spinco Hamilton and recommendedthe current directions for gymsbereexamined.

"Even though they followed guidelines, there was obviously significant transmission, so I think we do need to review the guidelines and that's in process," she told reporters during a media update atQueen's Park on Wednesday.

Forty-sevenprimary cases (45patrons,two staff members) and 25secondary"household spread" cases, such as friends, family or other contacts, have been linked to the James Street North locationas of Thursday.

It's an increase of three over the day before.

Dr. Elizabeth Richardson, Hamilton's medical officer of health, previouslysaid that no one connected to the outbreak had been hospitalized.

About three quarters of those infected are female and roughly one quarter are male, Richardson said, and their ages range from late teens to late 50s.

The public health unit asked the province to review its guidelines and agreed with Dr. Yaffeafter talking with her aboutplans to reconsider them, said spokesperson Jacqueline Durlov.

"The SPINCOoutbreak definitely showed us the potential risks of this type of activity and will likely contribute to a change in guidelines and practices moving forward."

Durlov added publichealth has not updated its guidelines yet, but said in the meantime it's recommending people consider wearing masks in classes and avoid playing music so coaches and participants don't need to yell.

Officials are also calling for anyone feeling sick in any way, even if their symptoms aremild, not to attend classes.

Spincopauses classes atmost Ontario locations

Following the outbreak, Spinco has announced it's temporarily closing its spin studiosin "affected" regions of Ontario.

The company operates seven locations, including three in Toronto, one in Oakville and one in Ottawa. Online schedules at each of those studios showed classes had been cancelled as of Thursday morning.

Only the schedule for Spinco's Waterloo location continues to show classes.

A spokesperson for the companytold CBCNews that Spinco would not provide an interview, instead sending a statement from founder Michelle August and saying it would not be makingany further comments.

In it, she stressed that the company has "embraced our responsibility as operators" during the COVID-19 pandemic and used"robust and disciplined" strategies to try to stop the spread of the virus.

An 'ongoing battle' with COVID-19

Local public health officials have also said the studio followed all the necessary guidelines, including directing riders to wear masks when not on bikes, physical distancing and enhanced sanitization.

"We are proud that our efforts have resulted in zero reported outbreaks across our other 17 studios," Augustwrote, before acknowledging that the dozensof positive cases linked to the Hamilton location show more must be done to modify their approach to safety.

"While Spinco is certainly devastated that these cases have unfolded at one of our locations, we view this as part of our ongoing battle with a virus that is constantly changing, seemingly hourly."