Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) announced Tuesday afternoon that California counties that have been permitted to enter deeper into stage two of the governor’s reopening plan can also now begin to reopen barbershops and hair salons.
During the press conference, the governor indicated that the new guidelines mark a pivotal transition that will require each person to take accountability for their own actions in order to prevent future outbreaks.
“It is incumbent upon all of us to take seriously this moment,” said Newsom. “The reality is this pandemic has just begun, it hasn’t ended.”
Under the new guidelines, 47 California counties can allow barbershops and hair salons to reopen. According to ABC-7, the eleven remaining counties, including Los Angeles and San Francisco, have been prohibited from moving forward because they have not yet reported that they have the coronavirus spread under control.
“We want to see how some of these phase-in approaches go before we make even more meaningful modifications to them,” said Newsom during the press conference. “We’re making progress, we’re moving forward, we’re not looking back, but we are walking into the unknown, the untested, literally and figuratively, and we have to be guided by the data that brought us to this place.”
The Los Angeles Times reported that Newsom told retailers on Monday that they could also begin to reopen. The governor has since said that additional guidance for other businesses and locations, such as summer camps, schools and the entertainment industry, will be released in the coming days.
As The Daily Wire previously reported, Newsom released guidelines for churches and other houses of worship to reopen after President Donald Trump called on governor’s to take action, noting that “these are the places that hold our society together and keep our people united.”
Under the new 13-page guidelines, places of worship must cap attendance at 25% capacity or 100 people, whichever represents the lower threshold. The limits on attendance remain in place “for the first 21-days of a county public health department’s approval of religious services and cultural ceremonies activities at places of worship.”
The guidelines also encourage houses of worship to continue virtual services instead of resuming in-person services, and furthermore, just like the other guidelines put forth by the governor, individual counties reserve the power to make stricter modifications.
It’s currently unclear how many counties will choose to reopen houses of worship now that Newsom will no longer prevent churches from doing so at the state level. Earlier this month, the governor’s decision to allow manufacturing to resume across the state at the discretion of individual counties prompted fighting between Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Alameda County, California, which refused to allow him to reopen his plan.
After Musk called the interim health director incompetent, filed a lawsuit against the county, and promised to take Tesla’ headquarters out of state — and potentially the entire company — Alameda County allowed them to resume manufacturing.
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