Man loses gym membership in Cypress after ‘joke’ video about intentionally spreading virus

HARRIS COUNTY - Life Time Athletic says it has terminated the membership of a man who allegedly claimed he was spreading coronavirus at the health club in Cypress.

In a Snapchat video, the man lists another person in the sauna as “Victim #1.” He then coughs repeatedly and says, “Time to spread this s***. You know why? ‘Cause f*** society.”

FOR THE LATEST NEWS & WEATHER UPDATES DOWNLOAD THE FOX 26 APPS

The man and his cousin told FOX 26 the video was a joke meant only for family to see. Instead, a lot more people saw it when it was shared to Facebook. FOX 26 is concealing the man’s identity because he hasn’t been charged with anything.

“Immediately upon awareness of the individual’s actions, we terminated their membership and alerted local authorities,” said Dan DeBaun, public relations specialist for Life Time Corporate. “Additionally, we executed our deep cleaning protocol of the space in the video out of the abundance of caution. While it was later determined that no other individuals were in proximity of this individual and it was claimed to be intended as a joke, we took these actions as a result of our commitment to provide safe, respectful, family-oriented environments. Needless to say, this behavior was in stark contrast with our expectations.”

Social distancing: What to do and what not to do to slow the spread of COVID-19

The man who filmed the video sent FOX 26 what he claims is his COVID-19 test result, dated June 20, showing a negative result. 

“It was all a joke,” he said. “Plus nobody was in the sauna with me, and I’m negative for COVID-19. The vid was actually a response to one of my cousins who I joke and mess with.”

While Life Time says it has alerted local authorities about his actions, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office says they have not filed any charges.