By Cody Harms, Reporter
OMAHA, Neb.– The Health and Kinesiology building on the UNO campus has lifted its mask mandate as of Oct. 18, although masks are still strongly encouraged.
The city of Omaha’s mask mandate does not require face coverings while exercising indoors, but people must remain six feet apart and wear their masks into the gym.
Leo Ehlers, program assistant for strength and fitness programs at H&K, said having to enforce masks in the gym made him and his staff feel like the mask police and took a big mental toll on all of them.
“As soon as people walked into the gym, I couldn’t have a conversation with anybody because they were scared I was going to make them put their mask on,” Ehlers said.
Although masks aren’t required, Ehlers said safety has been their top priority since the beginning of the pandemic. The gym has every machine six feet apart, students must clean equipment before and after use and they usually have a capacity limit of forty-five.
Because of the new mask policy, students can walk into the gym and do their exercise without masks. Jack McGonigal, a UNO junior and H&K employee, said he’s starting to see an increase in students again.
“There’s more and more people coming in each day, and I think as we progress on in the school year we will see more back to normal,” McGonigal said.
Employees like Ehlers and McGonigal are still required to wear a mask while they are working, as well as walking through the halls, and inside any classroom in the building.
Employees at H&K are doing their best to try and keep morale of the building high. Ehlers said being able to mingle with his peers again is a nice change of pace.
“Being able to talk to people in the gym now is awesome… and not being feared every single day, because that took a huge personal toll on me; it was terrible,” Ehlers said.
Regardless of vaccination status, the CDC says there are six ways to best protect the health of you and other gym attendees. They include avoiding gyms’ peak hours and crowded areas, wiping down everything you touch, washing your hands and, most importantly, staying home if you are sick.
