New Illinois COVID Restrictions
Health clubs and fitness centers are an important piece of health care and well-being for anyone, particularly as we head into the holiday season and days are getting shorter and the weather colder. For physicians, an outlet for exercise is perhaps more important for their physical and mental health ahead of the mounting wave of Covid-19 cases and related patient care needs.
When adhering to public health guidelines, data demonstrates that health clubs are safe environments right now, which is important because prioritizing health and fitness is more essential than ever. We believe that the responsibility is equally shared between the facility and its members to ensure a safe environment. Our physicians and licensed healthcare professionals would not enter an environment that they felt were unsafe and we feel that it is critical to allow them the opportunity to get back into a regular fitness routine, offering innumerable benefits to both their physical and mental health, especially as we enter the winter months.
This letter, paired with our safety track record showing that large clubs like ours are not a major factor contributing to the spread of the virus—especially with our state-of-the-art air filtration and sanitization systems—lead to the state’s decision to allow us to remain open.
Here are some more details about the new restrictions:
- Masks are required while indoors.
- Indoor instructor-led group fitness classes are temporarily suspended.
- The locker rooms are temporarily closed, except to use the toilet or to change and shower for swimming.
- Building capacity is restricted to 25%. Our clubs are very big, so this will afford every member plenty of space. Our large clubs also ensure there is very low risk of us reaching 25% capacity and turning away members—even during prime time.
- The capacity indicator on our website is updated to reflect the new maximum. We encourage you to check the website before coming to the club to see the current club traffic.
We are making some big efforts to open more options for our members during this restricted time:
- We will have outdoor classes in LEVEL ONE (Chicago)
- We will weatherize the LEVEL FOUR fitness area (Chicago)
- We will run virtual guided workouts in our indoor studios with large screens, so you can still enjoy BODYPUMP, cycling, yoga, and other workouts at Midtown.
- The golf simulators remain available for private bookings.
- Grab-and-go food remains available.
- Hair and nail services at the spa remain available.
- Tennis remains available.
- Personal training and personal Pilates remain available.
- Swimming remains available.
Our membership options remain unchanged as the club remains open. Please feel free to contact the club for more details or with specific questions.