Appeals court sides with Whitmer, shuts down indoor gyms as pandemic precaution

FOX 2 - A federal appeals court has sided with Governor Gretchen Whitmer's orders to delay reopening of indoor gyms.

Gyms were due to open at 12:01 a.m. Thursday but at 9:00 p.m. Wednesday, the US Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals issued the ruling to keep gyms closed to keep the public from being placed at risk, the judicial panel said.

The decision is an about face after Whitmer had strongly disagreed with a decision by U.S. District Court Paul Maloney against her last week, which sided with a coaltion of health clubs and small gym owners.

The business owners filed suit saying safety protocols were prepared to be implemented like cleaning and social distancing, while admitting they had suffered financial harm and in some cases, ruin, by the shutdown.

They also said they had been left behind by the re-opening of nearly every other sector of commerce amid the pandemic with no actual reasons given by Whitmer and under constant threat of misdemeanor charges by Attorney General Dana Nessel's office.

Earlier on Wednesday the state reported more than 300 additional cases of COVID-19 for the first time since June 3.

"We sympathize deeply with the business owners and their patrons affected by the governor's order," the panel said. "Crises like COVID-19 can call for quick, decisive measures to save lives. Yet those measures can have extreme costs, costs that often are not borne evenly.

"The decision to impose those costs rests with the political branches of government, in this case, Governor Whitmer."

Stay with FOX 2 for more information on this developing story. Read the ruling below.