Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Tuesday that 47 counties across the state, including Solano and Napa counties, can reopen hair salons and barbershops with strict public health and safety guidelines.
Newsom said the relaxed COVID-19 coronavirus shelter-in-place guidelines for salons and barbershops would apply to the state’s 47 counties that have filed attestation forms with the California Department of Public Health, asserting that they meet minimum standards for factors like testing capacity and hospitalizations.
Counties with approved attestation forms are allowed to move further into the process of reopening their economies than other counties that have yet to stem the spread of the virus. The state has already allowed Napa and Solano counties to reopen certain businesses like dine-in restaurants, car washes, pet groomers and outdoor museums and shopping malls.
“We’re moving forward,” Newsom said. “We’re not looking back but we are walking into the unknown, the untested, literally and figuratively.”
Solano and Napa counties are the only Bay Area counties to have an attestation form approved by state public health officials, so far. Some large counties like San Diego and Sacramento have also been approved to accelerate their shelter-in-place modifications, but much of the Bay Area is still required to reopen at a slower pace, for now.
The state is still prohibiting nail salons to open in the immediate future, but Newsom said he is working with state legislators and public health officials to release guidelines for those personal care businesses. Newsom revealed earlier this month that the state’s first community-spread case of coronavirus occurred at a nail salon.
Hair salons in the 47 counties will be required to follow strict health and safety guidelines, including the use of face coverings by all staff and customers, the removal of frequently touched items like magazines, frequent disinfection and sanitization and staggered appointments to maintain physical distancing and reduce crowds.
“All of us are required to do a little bit more and a little bit better to make sure we’re protecting the spread of this virus, particularly as we meaningfully reopen the economy in this state,” he said.