One of the consequences of COVID lockdowns has been the implementation of masking and social distancing basically in every location.
One University of Chicago student points out that this is counterintuitive to combating COVID — since exercise and staying healthy is one way to reduce the risk of either contracting the virus or having a severe reaction to it.
Evita Duffy explained this further in a recent essay in the Chicago Thinker.
Duffy said:
Scientific data proves that being fit and healthy is essential to combating COVID-19. We also know that individuals with lifestyle-related comorbidities, such as obesity and type two diabetes, are far more likely to be hospitalized or die from the Wuhan virus. Over the last pandemic-ridden year, 42 percent of U.S. adults reported gaining an average of 29 pounds, and 10 percent said they gained more than 50 pounds.
“Yet universities like Princeton, Columbia, Harvard, the University of Chicago, and many others are actively discouraging students from being healthy by making working out as difficult as possible,” Duffy said. “Students who attend New York University and the University of California at Los Angeles can’t even go to the gym because they have been completely shut down.”
“Universities are forcing students to wear masks at all times, including in outdoor and indoor athletic facilities, even when they are performing strenuous physical activity, like sprints,” the conservative student said.
Students can have difficulties scheduling a workout for those who are fortunate enough to even have that opportunity.
She said:
At many universities, students can’t work out at the gym without scheduling an appointment. With limited capacity rules, workout times are very short and fill up fast, requiring students to sign up many days in advance.
Worse, students are only permitted to work out for a maximum of 50 minutes (no long breaks between sets, people!). At schools like UChicago, students can’t attend more than one reservation in a day, even if they go to different parts of the gym, like cardio and then the weight room.
Her own school shut down its own outdoor track to non-athletes, which Duffy said is “ludicrous.”
IMAGE: Dejan Stanic Micko/Shutterstock
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