This second report from EuropeActive ‘s research center evaluates the extent to which gyms and leisure centers continue to provide a safe environment for physical activity during the COVID-19 pandemic. From a total sample of more than 185.8 million visits in 9 countries across the health and fitness sector from mainland Europe and the UK, reported COVID-19 cases were analyzed against the number of visits in 2021. Research and evaluation teams from universities in Spain and the UK and the ukactive Research Institute worked together for this evaluation. The result: The reported incidence rate of positive COVID-19 cases was 0.88 cases per 100,000 visits in 3,043 fitness clubs and leisure centers.
The data comes from two independent databases: Firstly, from 59.5 million visits in 8 countries in continental Europe, which were collected directly by scientists from the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos and Sheffield Hallam University during the open operating period from January 4 to October 3. Furthermore, the data collected from England during the open operating period from April 12 to November 21 will be presented by the ukactive research institute. The results are consistent with findings from public health sources and suggest that fitness clubs and leisure centers (where industry standard protective measures are in place) continue to provide safe public spaces for exercise.
The report also provides a brief update on recent studies showing a protective effect of physical activity and exercise against COVID-19 and concludes that, according to the available data, prolonged inactivity is a stronger risk factor for severe COVID-19 disease than all underlying diseases and risk factors identified by the CDC except age and organ transplant history. In fact, physical inactivity was the strongest risk factor compared to commonly cited risk factors such as smoking, obesity, diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
The report also addresses the positive impact of physical activity on the economy. This was highlighted by Hafner et al. (2020) in a novel study that assessed the economic benefits of increased physical activity on a global scale over the next 30 years. The study concludes that increasing the physical activity of the global population to the lower threshold of the WHO guidelines is estimated to contribute up to USD 8.6 trillion to the global economy by 2050 (in 2019 prices). This indicates a potential economic benefit of measures to promote physical activity, particularly in high-income countries with currently lower levels of physical activity.
