A lot of the changes we have made have been more on our side, including following CDC cleaning guidelines, setting up hand sanitizer stations, changing how we were storing linens, etc.

1. Want to hear some good COVID-19 massage
news? Massage Therapy with safety
protocols is SAFE!
Table of contents
 Owner David Weintraub, LMT writes about how our reopening is going, how
we are practicing safely, and what’s next for Bodyworks DW!
 Our COVID-19 safety measures for massage therapy are working great – Read
Our in Depth Safety Plan Here
 Updated 7/27/2021: We are monitoring the evolving situation with the Delta
variant. Per newly announced NYC rules for public health care employees, we
will be mirroring city policy and requiring our few remaining non-vaccinated
staff to undergo a weekly covid PCR test.
 UPDATE 5/24/21: In accordance with newly updated CDC and NYS guidelines,
please consult our new guidelines for vaccinated massage clients here to see
how protocols have changed. If you are not vaccinated all pre-existing
protocols are still in effect.
 Great COVID-19 Massage News: Bodyworks DW has moved ahead to our
“Stage 2” Reopening
 Massage Therapy Safety Protocols: A Quick Review
o Main Change #1: Masks & PPE
o Main Change #2: Linens Safety
o Main Change #3: Distancing Whenever Possible
o Main Change #4: Air Circulation & Filtration
 COVID-19 Massage News: What’s Next
o Hope to see you at the studio soon! – David
o Further Reading
Owner David Weintraub, LMT writes about how our reopening is going, how we are
practicing safely, and what’s next for Bodyworks DW!
Our COVID-19 safety measures for massage therapy are working great – Read Our in
Depth Safety Plan Here
Updated 9/28/2021: As of today, all therapists at our studio are fully vaccinated for
covid-19 and we will continue to hire only vaccinated staff at our studios. All of our
support staff has either been fully vaccinated, or has received at least one dose of
covid-19 vaccine and will be fully vaccinated by October 24th.
Updated 8/1/2021: In response to the latest reporting on the transmissibility of the
Delta variant for covid-19, we are returning to our previous masking policy. Going

2. forward, all clients and therapists will be required to wear a mask at our studios both
in the waiting area and during treatment.
Updated 7/27/2021: We are monitoring the evolving situation with the Delta variant.
Per newly announced NYC rules for public health care employees, we will be
mirroring city policy and requiring our few remaining non-vaccinated staff to
undergo a weekly covid PCR test.
UPDATE 5/24/21: In accordance with newly updated CDC and NYS guidelines, please
consult our new guidelines for vaccinated massage clients here to see how protocols
have changed. If you are not vaccinated all pre-existing protocols are still in effect.
Hi! So, we have been open now since July 6th and steadily rebuilding our team. The
first couple of weeks felt pretty stressful. We have a whole list of new safety
protocols and cleaning procedures to practice. What once felt routine and easy (all
the things that happen before and after your massage) has took a while to adjust to,
but is now the new normal. It feels good to be able to share some good COVID-19
massage news. Whew!
Our track record over the past 4 months is now over 1,500 appointments since
reopening with zero issues of covid transmission. Therefore, I feel that I can
comfortably say that massage therapy is a safe activity with our safety protocols
securely in place. Thank you to all NYC’ers for taking masks and social distancing
seriously! All of our hard work is what’s allowing businesses to stay open and for us
specifically to be able to offer medical massage in New York.
With the recent uptick in cases in NYC, we are re-instituting mandatory PCR covid
testing for our therapists. Since we reopened, I myself have had 7 tests, all were
negative. As long as testing is readily available, therapists will test every two weeks
even though it’s not required by NYS. You can view the therapists’ test results here.
Great COVID-19 Massage News: Bodyworks DW has moved ahead to our
“Stage 2” Reopening
We’ve had months of practicing our new massage safety measures and things are
running smoothly. So, we have moved ahead from our “soft” reopening to our “stage
2” reopening. This means we are starting to bring more therapists back to work. And
using all of our treatment rooms. And soon, bringing the front desk back to the
office.
Part of our confidence stems from knowing that it’s not just our studio that has
stayed covid-19 free. I’ve spoken with numerous other studio owners both in NYC,
and in upstate NY. Thankfully, I haven’t heard about anyone running into problems

3. with covid. That means that hundreds of therapists have been working on thousands
of clients with no issues or infections.
So, if massage therapy was going to be a source of transmissions, we’d have heard
something by now. We haven’t, which is great COVID-19 massage news!
That doesn’t mean it’s impossible for transmissions to happen. A particular therapist
in NYS (not at our studio!) could get lax with safety or be skirting the guidelines. Or a
particular therapist could get lax with precautions outside of work and get the virus.
But if massage therapy in general under the new guidelines was creating viral spread
we would have heard about it by now from contact tracing programs. It’s wonderful
to be able to say that medical massage in Midtown and Fidi at our studios is safe!
Massage Therapy Safety Protocols: A Quick Review
A lot of the changes we have made have been more on our side, including following
CDC cleaning guidelines, setting up hand sanitizer stations, changing how we were
storing linens, etc. Most of those are happening behind the scenes and don’t really
change how you, as clients, experience getting a massage. We want to be
transparent about them so that you can trust that we are keeping our studios clean.
But in terms of what you actually “need to know” there are only really a few main
changes.
Per NYS Regulations, All Therapists and Clients are Required to Wear Masks

4. Main Change #1: Masks & PPE
 Masks must be worn at the studio by both therapist and client at all times,
even during the massage! (with one exception which I’ll get to next)
 However (and here’s the one exception), we are using pillowcases as face
cradle covers to create a sealed chamber that acts like a mask, but isn’t
jammed up on your face…
 So, when you are face down, you get to take off your mask (if you want
to…some people still prefer leaving them on and that’s fine too) since the
pillowcase is enclosed and acts like a mask
 We ask that you keep your mask handy so that you can put it on when you
turn over or switch to face up or side lying positions
 In case you were wondering, the NYS guidelines are very specific that masks
must be worn by staff at all times when clients are present, even when further
than 6 feet apart.
Main Change #2: Linens Safety
 We have switched to two top sheets instead of a top sheet and blanket (easier
to launder)
 If you get cold, we still have table warmers, just let us know and we’ll turn
them on
 The table warmers are now underneath a fitted medical grade table cover that
is easy to disinfect between clients
 Again, we have swapped out our old fitted face cradle covers for pillowcases
to allow clients an opportunity to take off their masks for a bit while face
down (see above)
Main Change #3: Distancing Whenever Possible
 We will be practicing social distancing at all times possible, even though we
can’t be six feet away during the massage itself
 So don’t be surprised if we do our intake and outtake from 6 feet away 🙂
Main Change #4: Air Circulation & Filtration
 All treatment rooms now have a HEPA 13 level medical grade air purifier
running in them during treatment
 The air is cycled through these purifiers at a rate of a complete exchange of
the air in the room about every 10 minutes, meaning that aerosol
transmission between clients is not an issue
COVID-19 Massage News: What’s Next

5. We are still cautioning folks in high risk groups to evaluate their individual situation
before booking (over 65 or with comorbidities such as diabetes or high blood
pressure). Now that we know we can practice safely we are starting to see more
clients in high risk groups. You may want to take a private car rather than use public
transport. We also recommend booking our earliest time slots so as to avoid other
clients as much as possible. However, those of you in particularly high risk (over 80
with one or more comorbidities) may want to wait until vaccines become available
and distributed.
With the more recent uptick in cases in NYC and nationwide, it is possible that we
will experience some sort of full or limited shutdown again within the next few
months. One new and great piece of news is that NYS has updated their essential
health care business classifications to include “medically necessary massage
therapy!” This is a new level for massage therapy as we were not classified as
essential during the spring/summer shutdown. This means that we will continue
being able to provide pain relief massage therapy in the event of another shutdown.
We will keep everyone posted about this and the particulars of what will constitute
“medically necessary” as we gain more detail from NYS.
And of course, as changes happen we will keep everyone informed as we learn
things. For now, I think we can all breath a big sigh of relief that it’s safe to get a
massage! With some small changes to our routines, we can get back to some
semblance of normalcy. Given how stressful this crisis has been and continues to be,
I’m thrilled that we can still provide medical massage for stress and pain relief to all
of you. And to be able to share some actual good COVID-19 massage therapy news!
Hope to see you at the studio soon! – David
Further Reading
 COVID-19 Safety & Massage Therapy: How Bodyworks DW Has Safely
Reopened
 Therapist COVID-19 Test Results
 Advanced Massage for Covid-19 Long Haulers: What symptoms can we help?
 While hospitals have capacity for COVID-19 patients in NYS, it is relatively safe
to get massage
 Life changing massage
 Bodyworks DW featured in MindBody Customer Story
Content Source : Massage Therapy NYC