Barbershops, hair salons may reopen in parts of California
California Gov. Gavin Newsom tweets a photo of his kids cutting his hair. May 26, 2020
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday gave everyone with long hair a bit of good news and even shared a bit of personal news on who has recently been trimming his self-described "mullet."
The 47 counties that have already "self-attested" to being ready to reopen retail and restaurants in Stage 2 of the coronavirus pandemic, may now allow barbershop and hair salons to open immediately, Newsom said. The only Bay Area counties that are on the list are Napa, Solano and Sonoma counties. Los Angeles County is also not on the list.
“We're interested in evidence,” Newsom said. “We want to see how some of these phased in approaches go before we make even more meaningful modifications.”
The hair salon guidance is 10 pages long and mostly offers common-sense advice, such as sanitizing all equipment and requiring physical distancing inside the shop. Other guidelines include having stylists wear face masks and goggles. Touchless faucets are encouraged as is virtual check-in technology to ensure that employees are notified when a customer arrives.
In a statement from the Center for American Liberty, attorney Mark Geragos said, “t's unfortunate for the tens of millions of Californians who depend upon the half million professionals we represent that it took a lawsuit, protests, petitions, and national media attention to force Governor Newsom to do the right thing in opening some salons back up. Newsom’s order is a good start, but it still irrationally leaves nail salons in limbo, defers to counties to complete onerous paperwork to satisfy the ever-shifting demands of the state, and continues to put licensed professionals at the whims of arbitrary standards imposed by the state and counties.”
The state is not yet in Stage 3, even though hair salons and barbershops were originally a part of that stage. Those businesses were added to Stage 2. Nail salons will have to open a bit later, Newsom said, as their reopenings are a bit more complicated.
Hair salon owners have been extremely vocal about their ability to reopen. Protests have erupted in Sacramento and elsewhere, with hairstylists insisting they know how to reopen and stay safe.
Newsom said that even though his 6-year-old daughter wanted to trim his hair with arts and crafts scissors last month, he said politely said no.
However, he admitted on Tuesday that he broke down and allowed his kids, after much urging from his wife, to snip his locks.
Even KTVU's Gasia Mikaelian needs a haircut; so her husband gives her a snip
California salon owner plans to defy coronavirus closure orders