Hair salons and barbershops reopen, subject to county approval.
Today, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that salons and barbers could reopen pending county approval. This will come as a relief to those working in the industry that have been severely hit by the lockdown. It also means you can tell your quarantine buddies to drop the electric shaver and spare yourself the aftermath of an asymmetrical hairdo.
Of course, businesses will be subject to individual county health criteria, wherever it is stricter than state-wide requirements. This will mark the beginning of “Stage 3” of Newsom’s phased reopening plan—which has been rolling out at increasing speed over the last few weeks, despite the increasing number of cases. However, this represents a shift in the stabilization of the healthcare system where there is more capacity to deal with the situation safely.
This follows yesterday’s announcement, that churches and instore-retail could also reopen subject to the same county-based approach. While churches seem to have looser restrictions around their operations, all other businesses are expected to implement meaningful modifications, respect social distancing regulations and wear face coverings wherever that isn’t possible.
“The reality is, this has just begun,” Newsom stated. “It hasn’t ended. And while we are moving forward because of stabilization, because of the good work that’s been done by health officials all across this nation, all across the state of California specifically to suppress the spread of this virus, by no stretch of the imagination is this virus behind us.”
Currently, 47 out of 58 California counties have “self-attested” to meeting the state’s standards—including less than 25 new cases per 100,000 residents in the past 14 days or less than 8% testing positive in the last week—and can now move forward.
Hair salons, barbershops, nail salons and other grooming services, gyms, sports competitions in empty stadiums and religious services were initially set to reopen in Stage 3 in the original four-stage plan. The fourth stage would signal the end of the lockdown, allowing concerts and large gatherings to resume, but Newsom says this is only like to happen once an effective vaccine is widely available.
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