Californians will be allowed to get their hair cut and their nails done outdoors, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday, a week after he ordered personal care services shuttered again in most of the state amid a surge in coronavirus cases.
New state guidelines issued Monday cover barbershops and hairstyling except for shampooing and chemical treatments such as straightening, coloring and perms, which cannot be done outdoors. Massages and beauty services, including facials, waxing and manicures, can move outside, while tattoos, piercings and electric hair removal are excluded because of hygiene requirements.
But the guidance gives discretion to counties, ultimately leaving it up to local public health officials where to resume haircuts and other personal care services outdoors.
Businesses across the state, some of which had been open again for only a few days, were forced to close down last week when Newsom tightened restrictions on dozens of counties being monitored by the state for elevated transmission of the coronavirus. The order closed hair and nail salons, gyms, houses of worship, shopping malls and office buildings, following a similar directive for bars and indoor restaurants, movie theaters and museums.
Looking for a way to keep some of California’s economy moving as the state battles a growing number of cases and hospitalizations from the virus, officials have begun to push more of public life outside, where experts believe the risk of spread is lower.
“It was our intention to provide for barbershops and the like just to be able to do their work outdoors,” Newsom said at a news conference Monday. “It turns out that was more challenging than it may have appeared.”
After receiving the shutdown order last week, salon and barbershop industry groups objected to a state regulation requiring their services to be performed inside a licensed establishment. That prevented them from operating outdoors as some sectors, such as restaurants, have received permission to do. More than a dozen state legislators sent a letter to the governor asking him to temporarily waive that law.
“Many small business owners statewide are asking for an opportunity to recoup devastating losses incurred by retrofitting salons and lost revenue due to the previous shutdown,” they wrote.
Newsom, who on Friday also blocked schools in much the state from reopening in-person classes in time for the start of the new year, said he was not currently considering allowing outdoor instruction.
“We obviously are doing everything we can to help the collective, and that is to deal with the background infection rates that fundamentally impact the decisions for schools to ultimately open,” he said.