State reaches deal for testing
Salons: Some outdoors work OKd, but fires keep customers inside
Alicia Orabella wanted action from her government.
Instead, the Oakland hair salon owner got a riddle. Starting Friday, she and other Alameda County businesses could start serving customers outdoors. As long as they stayed inside.
On that day, many in the beauty industry can resume operations, but only outside. This includes hair salons and barbershops, nail salons, waxing services, skin care and nonmedical massages, but not tattoos, piercings, electrolysis or anything that involves removing a face covering.
Dr. Nicholas Moss, Alameda County’s acting health officer, said in the order that those businesses can operate outdoors because they are deemed low risk for spreading the coronavirus — and that people should avoid going out, because of the wildfire smoke blanketing the area.
Orabella, who has called elected officials about the closure of businesses like hers under shelterinplace orders,
and gone as far as cutting hair on the steps of the Capitol in protest, doesn’t see humor in the irony. Instead, issuing the order as fires blaze and smoke chokes the air strikes her as an insult.
“I think it’s done in poor taste,” said the owner of Orabella Hair Studio on Oakland’s Piedmont Avenue. “Really? Opening outside during this is a gift?”
You can also go for a swim, though the Association of Pool & Spa Professionals warns that pools in wildfire zones may contain toxic ash.
Wineries will be allowed to offer outdoor tastings, by appointment, without having to provide food. The new order does not change closures of bars, breweries or pubs.
Moss hardly endorsed the new opportunities.
“These outdoor activities we are allowing to reopen are relatively low risk, but whenever we increase opportunities for people to mix, we see an increase in cases,” Moss said. “... As we continue to experience poor air quality, there is no better time to stay home as much as possible.”
Alameda County remains on the state’s watch list, with 130 positive cases per 100,000 people over the past 14 days. Its 17,000plus cases are the highest among Bay Area counties. Allowing outdoor operations is one of the few measures the county can take under state restrictions.
Allowing outdoor tastings won’t change much for Eric Callahan, the general manager of the Rubino Estates and Ruby Hill wineries in Pleasanton. With onsite delis, his wineries have been allowed to serve wine alongside food since June.
“Up until this previous weekend, when the smoke really became an issue, operating outdoors has not been much of a problem for us,” Callahan said. “We already had large outdoor seating areas, so we were in the best shape possible for outdooronly. … The heat has played some role in keeping people away, but we have nice big fans and icecold water. We are more concerned about the upcoming rainy season.”
For others, the rains to come are far from their first worry. Or second. Or 25th.
“Whoever is hanging on by a thread might not make it much longer, and if we get shut down again, how do you make it to the end of the year?” said Orabella, who is also an instructor at Keune Haircosmetics. “I’m wearing a hole in my carpet for the twentyfifth time this month by pacing. There’s anxiety and frustration. I’m still pushing forward, but it’s hard.”
Orabella said it’s not logistically feasible to reopen the twochair salon she has owned for seven years Friday, even though she’s found herself in debt for the first time in her life — about $100,000, some of it through taking out a Small Business Administration disasterrelief loan.
She ticked off reasons: Coloring services that make up 90% of Orabella’s services are not allowed outside; the concrete is uneven; a small breezeway would make it tough to distance properly; she could not find insurance for outdoor operations. None of it is as sanitary as being inside.
“It’s not a viable solution, at all,” she said. “I’m all about being compliant and doing the right thing, but we need to open up a dialogue.”
Gov. Gavin Newsom has promised to release reopening plans for watchlisted counties Friday. Those may include some guidance for the beauty industry.
Business owners and others have struggled to get clear answers on the implications of health orders for their operations. State officials defer to counties; county officials refer inquiries to other departments. Alameda County’s Emergency Operations Center, when asked to explain conflicting health advice to go outdoors and stay inside, waited more than 48 hours before saying only that it is “prioritizing activities that are outdoors, which we know is lower risk.” It did not address the wildfiresmoke issue, or other concerns salon owners had about doing business outside.
“I appreciate them giving us some wiggle room and that they know that things in our industry are not great right now, but it’s impossible and completely unsanitary to work outside,” said Feliz Dubois, owner of a skin care studio in Oakland. “I can’t work in a sterile environment on the sidewalk. It is just out of the question to set up shop in front of my salon.”
She has owned Feliz Dubois Skin Care in Montclair for 15 years. For the past three, she has operated out of a firstfloor studio that benefited from increased foot traffic before the pandemic. Now, though, her option for setting up outdoors is a dirty sidewalk with no way to provide modesty for intimate services.
Instead of moving outdoors, Dubois is sticking with virtual consultations and online product sales, although that’s “not even keeping me afloat. It’s barely peanuts, compared to wanting to eat a steak.”
Juliette Wilk, owner of Life Balance Massage in Oakland, moved out of her Piedmont Avenue studio last week, giving up on a location that she had built in 15 years from a tiny oneperson operation to one with a handful of contractors under her roof.
“I hung on there as long as I could, but paying full rent for five months, and without an end in sight, it seemed a little bit foolish to keep shelling out Oaklandlevel rents,” Wilk said. “Sure, it sounds great that we can open up outside, but it’s just not feasible for myself or any of the massage professionals that I personally know. I’ve heard people say it would be great to have an outdoor massage on a beach in Bali. That’s lovely, but this isn’t Bali.”