'It's A Do Or Die Situation': Bucks County Gym Owners Decide To Reopen Business Despite Gov. Wolf's Stay-At-Home Order
BUCKS COUNTY, Pa. (CBS) -- The owners of a gym in Bucks County say they can't handle the financial hit of staying closed any longer. They reopened their doors Saturday in defiance of the governor's order.
"At this point, it's a do or die situation," Transcend Fitness Club co-owner Jessica Coates said.
Faced with those options the owners of Transcend Fitness Club in Wrightstown Township decided to reopen Saturday morning.
"If we continue this way we won't have a business to come back to," Coates said.
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Pennsylvania's stay-at-home order was a heavy weight, Jessica and Tommy Coates say, they could not bear any longer. They tell Eyewitness News they've received little relief beyond unemployment assistance.
"We have yet to hear anything as far as a PPP injection," Tommy Coates said.
So they chose to put their three young boys first.
"It allows us to put food on the table," Tommy Coates said. "If there are ramifications that come with it, we will deal with that."
The Coates say they plan to follow CDC guidelines, only allowing 20 people in at a time. Face masks are also required.
In addition to reminders urging customers to not use lockers for sanitary reasons.
"I feel relatively safe," member Steve McLaughlin said. "I think it's a good thing. People need to get out and get normalcy to lives and this is a big part."
Pennsylvania State Police has been enforcing Gov. Tom Wolf's order, issuing two citations to businesses that have failed to close. Wolf has said businesses that do not comply with the stay-at-home order are putting the public at risk.
"This isn't a political thing, this is very much a family decision," Tommy Coates said.
One the Coates hope they won't have to make again.