Gym shuts down after racking up $1 million in COVID fines, California officials say

Summer Lin
·2 min read

A San Jose gym has closed after being fined nearly $1 million for defying coronavirus orders.

California Ripped Fitness said in an email obtained by KTVU that the gym “had no choice but to close” and blamed a “court order.”

“If we didn’t close now we would of been shut down permanently,” the gym wrote. “We are still fighting our legal battle for your rights and ours, hopefully we will be open soon.”

Santa Clara County Counsel James Williams told the station that the gym is being made to comply with California’s restrictions for “purple tier” counties. Santa Clara County, where the gym is located, is the state’s purple tier, which means there is “widespread” risk for COVID-19 and many non-essential businesses are closed.

“They have submitted a compliance statement indicating they are no longer operating indoors and are complying with all public health orders,” Santa Clara County said in a statement to SFGATE. “The County is pleased that California Ripped Fitness has decided to come into compliance, and we will be working with them on an agreement to resolve the outstanding fines.”

“Most gyms have been operating in compliance with the state and local Orders,” the county said.

The gym closed for six months during the pandemic but partially reopened in September and had since refused to shut down when restrictions were implemented during the fall, The Associated Press reported.

Defying coronavirus health orders has resulted in fines of nearly $1 million and “dozens of complaints” for the gym, according to the publication. The gym owner said in window sign that the gym was “exercising our constitutional right to peacefully protest. We are protesting that health clubs and exercise are essential.”

More than 27 million people in the U.S. have tested positive for the coronavirus as of Feb. 18 and more than 492,000 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. California has the highest number of COVID-19 cases out of any U.S. state.