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HAMPTON, New Hampshire (KDVR) — Planet Fitness, Inc. announced Monday that masks will be required at all locations beginning August 1.

Currently, all Planet Fitness employees are required to wear masks. To date, the Company has approximately 1,450 locations open across 46 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and Australia.

“As we continue to face the COVID-19 pandemic, amid an ongoing global health crisis, wellness has never been as essential to our collective community as it is today,” said Chris Rondeau, Chief Executive Officer at Planet Fitness. “Gyms are part of the solution and a key element of the healthcare delivery system, providing much needed access for people to exercise and stay healthy. Given our leadership position within the industry, we believe it’s our responsibility to further protect our members, employees, and communities so that we can all safely focus on our health, which is more important now than ever before.”

Planet Fitness has already taken several additional steps to strengthen its existing cleanliness policies and procedures to help keep members, guests and employees safe.

These include:

  • Enhanced cleanliness and sanitization policies and procedures
  • Extensive training for employees
  • Physical distancing measures in its spacious and well ventilated stores
  • Reducing physical touch points with touchless check-in.
  • Earlier this month, Planet Fitness also launched a Crowd Meter feature on its free mobile app to allow members to check club capacity before coming into the gym.

“I believe that as people return to their daily activities, they need to be able to safely access gyms and fitness centers with confidence, and reestablish their norms and routines,” said Dr. Ian Norton, Health Emergency response expert, founder of Respond Global and former head of Emergency Medical Team response with World Health Organization. “While COVID-19 is a serious public health issue, so too is the epidemic of obesity and chronic disease killing 1.7 million Americans every year. Fitness contributes to lowering rates of non-communicable disease related to sedentary lifestyles and obesity, and improves mental health, physical health and overall well-being.”

In addition to reopening stores across the country, Planet Fitness also offers free live “Home Work-Ins” which are part of Planet Fitness’ “United We Move” campaign, designed to motivate and inspire everyone to stay physically and mentally fit, according to a release sent out Monday.