Taking another significant step to re-energizing the state economy, Gov. Gavin Newsom moved California firmly into the third phase of his four-part reopening plan, announcing that hair salons and barbershops in 47 of the state’s 58 counties can reopen immediately.
Although the economic impact may be limited — and under most Bay Area counties’ stricter rules, shears and scissors will stay silent for now — Newsom’s move signals a growing comfort with activities that require people to interact in close physical proximity. The move to further ease California’s coronavirus restrictions came a day after Newsom announced new rules allowing churches to reopen, but with no more than 25% of capacity or 100 people.
“We’re making progress, we’re moving forward,” Newsom said Tuesday. “We aren’t looking back, but we are walking into the unknown.”
The state’s progress comes as California is poised to record its 100,000th case of the novel coronavirus, but the state’s aggressive actions early on are being credited as one of the reasons the largest state in the country has seen less than 4% of the nearly 100,000 deaths in the United States since the pandemic gripped the country.
The vast majority of counties in California have received state approval that allows them to move more quickly through Stage Two of modifying Newsom’s statewide stay-at-home order — and now partially into Stage Three. They have done that by submitting plans that show adequate levels of testing, hospital capacity, protective equipment and other measures. But many counties in the Greater Bay Area are not among them.
Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Francisco and San Mateo counties have taken a more cautious approach and have yet to file or receive state approval to move through Stage Two, which blocks other changes, like allowing dine-in service at restaurants. Sonoma County has received Stage 2 approval but has decided not to open hair salons or barbershops yet.
San Benito, Napa and Solano are among the counties where hair salons and barbershops will be permitted to operate because they have requested and been granted the authority by the state to move more quickly on reopening.
On Tuesday, Santa Cruz County announced it will make a request on June 2 to the state to move to the next level.
In recent days, the Newsom administration has allowed retail stores to reopen for in-store shopping in all California counties, subject to approval by each county health officer. The changes are possible, Newsom said Tuesday, because the state is now testing more than 60,000 people a day — up from just 2,000 a day two months ago. And it has accumulated more ventilators, masks and other equipment at hospitals, while the number of deaths has leveled off.
The trends, he said “are turning yellow to green, and we are marching forward.”
To guide the latest reopening, state health officials released safety rules Tuesday that hair salons and barbershops must follow in order to begin operating again, including requiring customers and employees to wear face masks, provide hand sanitizer, frequently clean tools, and remove magazines, coffee and other items in reception areas.
Barbershop owner Juan Desmarais said Tuesday it was about time. He had reopened Primo’s in Vacaville at the beginning of May, saying he could not afford to remain closed.
“It’s a shame we had to feel like criminals,” he said. Vacaville police had given him a cease and desist order and said he could face fines or jail time for remaining open. “Shame on them for doing that. Are we supposed to be happy the government finally used some common sense?”
Reopening for hair salons does not come without risk. Over the weekend, health officials in Springfield, Missouri, announced that two stylists wearing face coverings at a Great Clips hair salon had tested positive for COVID-19, potentially exposing 147 customers and other staff members to the disease.
Some health officials remain nervous at the pace of reopening.
Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody criticized the state Tuesday for making modifications too quickly to track new cases and hospitalizations. Newsom’s new guidance to allow 100-person religious gatherings Monday was “particularly” problematic, she said.
“The pace at which the state has made these modifications is concerning to me,” she told the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. “We can’t see the effect of any of these changes — the effect on COVID — for at least 14 days.”
“Making changes too frequently leaves us blind,” she added.
Meanwhile, 38 people at at Morgan Hill fish-packing company tested positive for COVID-19, Cody reported. The spouse of an employee at Lusamerica Foods Inc. was hospitalized several weeks ago, and county officials discovered the wider outbreak when they tested the employees. No deaths have been reported. Company officials have closed shared facilities at the plant and are taking the temperatures of workers every day.
Newsom is facing huge levels of unemployment, a $54 billion state budget deficit and some protests over the closures. He said Tuesday that more announcements are coming about nail salons, tattoo parlors, summer camps and child care facilities.
Two weeks ago, on May 12, the Professional Beauty Federation of California, an industry group representing salons and barbershops, sued Newsom, saying the rules were too onerous because the original goal to avoid hospitals from being overwhelmed had been achieved.
On Tuesday, an attorney for the group said he believes Newsom acted because he was about to lose the lawsuit. “There’s no doubt it was a rushed announcement to attempt to render our legal challenge moot,” said Fred Jones.
After more than two months, Californians are in need of a haircut. And the governor quipped that his personal hair stylists didn’t follow the correct protocols over the weekend: His children cut what his wife termed a “mullet” off the back of his head.
“They had at me,” he joked. “It was a family effort.”
Scenes from this weekend:
Praying I don’t end up looking like Gov. Exotic 😳 ✂️ pic.twitter.com/rSPyM984QH
— Gavin Newsom (@GavinNewsom) May 26, 2020
Above: Gavin Newsom with Brooklynn, 6, and Hunter, 8.
Bay Area News Group reporters Fiona Kelliher and David DeBolt contributed to this report.
