Want a haircut? Nails done? Head to the great outdoors
Newsom OKs personal care services doing business outside
After months of roughing it, Californians will finally be able to get their hair cut, nails done and body massaged anywhere in the state — so long as they’re OK doing it outside.
Gov. Gavin Newsom on Monday announced he waived statewide licensing regulations so barbershops, nail salons and massage parlors forced to close their shops under the state’s stay-at-home orders can now take their services outside provided they adhere to public health rules. The announcement comes just one week after Newsom signed an order that forced a
number of businesses — including salons and barbershops — to cease indoor operations if their counties are on the governor’s coronavirus watchlist. As of Monday, 33 counties had the dubious distinction of being on that list, including all of those in the Bay Area except San Mateo County. Together, those counties account for more than 80% of California’s population.
The governor’s order last week immediately sparked protests and backlash from thousands of salon owners across the state, many of which had just begun serving clients again after being shut down since March when counties imposed a lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
“It was our intention to provide for barbershops and the likes to do their work outdoors,” Newsom said during Monday’s news conference. “It turns out that was more challenging than it may have appeared, but the good news is we have new guidelines out now.”
Those guidelines cover hairdressing, styling and other personal care services such as massages, facials and manicures. Tattoos and piercings still aren’t allowed inside or out because of stringent hygiene requirements.
Under the new guidelines, personal care businesses can provide their services under an outdoor tent, canopy or other kinds of sun shelters as long as no more than one side is closed to allow for “sufficient outdoor air movement.” Both the employees and clients must wear masks, stations must still be spaced at least 6 feet apart and frequent disinfecting must take place.
Denise Russell, the owner of Special FX Salon & Day Spa in San Jose who was forced to close up her shop four months ago, said moving her business outside is “not optimal at all” but she has no other choice.
“We can’t continue to go on not being able to make a living and not being able to pay our bills,” Russell said in an interview Monday. “We’ll keep fighting to get our salons open with proper distancing and protocol, but having the opportunity to work outside is better than nothing.”
Russell has already purchased three tents that she plans to set up in the parking spaces in front of her shop. But with other logistics still to be figured out, she hopes to open for outdoor services in a week.
Derrick Pecson, 34, who owns Black and Gold Barber Lounge in Daly City, said putting chairs outdoors and cutting hair is “something, but not everything.”
“For that to be feasible we’d have to do a lot,” Pecson said. “We like to take care of our clients indoors because it’s more sanitary and you don’t have hair flying everywhere around the streets and stuff.” For now, he can remain inside as long as San Mateo County stays off the governor’s watchlist.
The new guidelines allow salon and barbershop owners to bypass a California Business and Professions Code that says barbering and cosmetology services must be performed in a licensed establishment. Without the waiver, those in counties on Newsom’s watchlist had to remain closed.
In a letter to the state last week, Assemblymember Jim Patterson, R-Fresno, and Fred Jones, legal counsel for the Professional Beauty Federation of California, argued that salon owners should be granted the same leeway as other industries, such as the California Alcohol Beverage Control’s temporary catering authorization, which allows restaurants and bars to create an outdoor area to serve food and alcohol.
While Jones welcomed the governor’s announcement Monday, “it’s kicking them literally to the curb to make ends meet,” he said. “Our salons, at great personal cost, have instituted stepped-up safety protocols within their establishments that are much safer than doing these services in the more uncontrolled outside environment.”
A report published last week by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that nearly 140 people interacted with two hairstylists who tested positive for COVID-19 at a Great Clips in Missouri, yet none of them caught the virus. Both stylists and clients were wearing face masks.
Although the study does not pinpoint the factors that helped avert what could have become a significant outbreak, it does appear that face mask requirements put in place by the salon and the city where it was located, Springfield, Missouri, played a substantial role.
As of Monday, the Bay Area’s seven-day average for deaths per day — 0.91 per 1 million residents — was still near its highest level since early May and statewide average deaths per day sit at about 91 — only down slightly from a peak of 100 last week, according to data compiled by this news organization. The state’s test positivity rate over the past seven days dropped slightly over the past week from 7.7% to 7.2%, according to the governor, and hospitalizations continue to rise — this week increasing by 16%.