Plans changed quickly for many Michigan gym owners and members who hoped to work up a sweat on Thursday.
Michiganders eagerly counted down the days until they could once again return to their local gyms until a late appeals court decision on Wednesday evening backed Governor Gretchen Whitmer on keeping gyms closed a while longer, according to Fox News.
(Detroit Free Press/Eric Seals)
Sanitized and ready to reopen after three months of being shut down by Michigan’s numerous and authoritarian pandemic executive orders, gym staff and members were prepared to reopen. Gyms owners and staff across the state trained for nearly a week and put together comprehensive COVID-prevention plans with distanced equipment. Ready to go, staff informed members they were ready to open.
According to the Detroit Free Press, Maloney had ruled for gym owners last week, saying the state hadn’t adequately explained why they were being forced to stay closed while some other businesses had already reopened with social distancing guidelines in place.
Until Whitmer’s late-night shenanigans turned the tables yet again…
Just hours before gyms’ planned reopening on Thursday June 25, the 6th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled an “emergency stay” in favor of the state, as reported by the Detroit Free Press. Judges Julia S. Gibbons, Deborah L. Cook and Chad A. Readler issued an emergency ruling reversing Maloney’s order and upholding the wishes of Whitmer and her administration to keep gyms and fitness centers closed, due to the potential risk of spreading the coronavirus if they were to operate.
(The Detroit News/Max Ortiz)
Thursday morning came and gym members across the state increasingly added to lines waiting outside. Little did they know…they would be driving home without even breaking a sweat. Owners quickly emailed members informing of yet another delayed reopening. Another reopening date has yet to be suggested by Governor Whitmer or her administration.
Some gyms owners aren’t going down without a fight though!
In spite of the late-night ruling, some gyms opened Thursday morning and have remained open. With extensive precautionary distancing and regular sanitizing procedures, some fitness centers have defied the governor and court’s decision allowing members to shed those added COVID pounds. Despite the ruling, no instances of gyms being shut down for defying the order have been reported.
