Gyms reopen, duck boat tours resume as Boston enters Phase 3

BOSTON — Gyms in Boston are welcoming back members and the iconic duck boat tours are rolling out again as the city enters the third phase of its coronavirus economic restart.

Boston begins Phase 3 on Monday, a week after most of the rest of Massachusetts, allowing museums, movie theatres, historical sites and gyms to reopen with certain restrictions.

The New England Aquarium and Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum are among those expected to reopen this week.

Boston Duck Tours are also beginning on Monday. The company says its limiting the number of people on the duck boats so guests can socially distance and is requiring face masks for staff and guests.

Pat Smith, co-founder of a South Boston gym that reopens Monday, told The Boston Globe that most of its members have said they feel safe to return to working out in person.

“People are ready to roll, and get back to a little bit of normalcy,” said Smith of Lifted Fitness. “But only if they know the place they are going is taking the right precautions and being safe about it.”

But some residents are concerned that the reopenings could set Boston back in its coronavirus recovery.

“I feel like once the stuff starts to reopen, just like everywhere else in the country, there will be a surge in Boston and they’ll have to pull it back,” Marc D’Amico told WHDH-TV.

The Associated Press