Reported cases of COVID-19 in European health clubs based on more than 185 million visits analyzed is 0.87, which is less than one case per 100,000 club visits, according to the second SafeACTiVE report from EuropeActive in partnership with King Juan Carlos University, AWRC-Sheffield Hallam University and ukactive’s Research Institute.
Research and evaluation partners collected data based on more than 185 million visits to fitness clubs and leisure facilities with only 1,614 positive cases (of both members and staff) reported from operators based in Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom.
Some of the data was collected from Jan. 4, 2021, to Sept. 27, 2021, while other data was collected from April 12, 2021 to Nov. 21, 2021. Most of this time was prior to the latest variant, the Omicron variant, becoming prevalent in Europe.
The first SafeACTiVE study released in December 2020 showed an infection rate of 1.12 per 100,000 visits. The data for this first study was collected based on 115 million visits to 4,360 health clubs in Germany, France, Sweden, Belgium, Netherlands, Spain, Portugal, Norway, Switzerland, Czech Republic, Poland, Denmark, Luxembourg and the United Kingdom. It was completed prior to vaccinations being widely available in Europe.
The SafeACTiVE study, commissioned by EuropeActive's Research Centre THINK Active, seeks to mitigate public health concerns (of both users and members), confirm that fitness clubs are safe environments with a relatively low risk of Covid-19 infection, and offer the fitness and physical activity sector a strong argument for keeping fitness and exercise facilities open now that Covid cases are rising and new restrictions and lockdowns are once again being imposed across Europe, according to EuropeActive.
"The second SafeACTiVE report presents important data on the contribution that the fitness and leisure sector has made to supporting health and wellbeing throughout the pandemic,” said Professor Rob Copeland, who is the director of the Advanced Wellbeing Research Centre at Sheffield Hallam University. “As COVID-19 continues to cast a long shadow over society, this report provides compelling evidence in support of prioritizing physical activity in national policy and ensuring that facilities remain open to help sustain the physical and mental wellbeing of individuals and communities.”
Prof. Alfonso Jimenez, Head of THINK Active, said: "Data provided by club operators suggest that fitness clubs and leisure centers, where industry standard mitigation is in place, continue to provide safe public spaces in which to exercise, with very low self-reported cases of COVID-19. We employed robust data collection methods and our findings are consistent with findings from public health sources.”
More than 256 million confirmed cases of COVID-19 and more than 5.1 million deaths related to COVID-19 have been reported globally, according to the WHO Epidemiological Weekly Report published on Nov. 21, 2021.