SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Governor Gavin Newsom gave an update on COVID-19 in California at noon on Tuesday. The briefing came after California issued new guidelines for places of worship and in-person retail shopping on Monday. You can watch the entire briefing here.
“We are very close to reaching a milestone in this country - 100,000 lives lost,” said Newsom.
Newsom said while a lot of people enjoyed themselves while respecting social distancing guidelines over the three-day weekend, some did not.
19 people died in last 24 hours due to COVID-19 and more than 2,000 people tested positive statewide, Newsom said.
Newsom noted that “second wave” is months away and that we are still experiencing a first wave.
“By no stretch of the imagine is this virus behind us,” said Newsom.
19.5% of Californians that have tested positive are over 65, but that age group makes up the majority deaths statewide.
"Out of all the places like restaurants and gyms, we are prepared for this, we have passed a state board test regarding sanitation, cross-contamination -15
Hair Stylist of 20 years Raquel Norris is elated to get back to work.
“This is a huge step for our cities and for our lives that we'll be able to get ourselves looking great again,” Norris.
Governor Gavin Newsom gave the green light to San Diego County hair salons and barbers who agree to make the necessary safety changes.
Stylists and barbers are only allowed to cut hair, but they can't offer shaves or do eyebrows. Other customers will need to wait outside to maintain social distancing whenever possible.
"We'll no longer have a receptionist just to avoid all of the additional people in the salon,” Norris.
At Gallery West Hair Salon at 3318 5th Avenue, Norris says her boss has built partitions for each of their styling stations, saying “we can all still see each other, but we're compartmentalized in our own stations.”
Norris also says there will be no double booking, “we’re only taking one client at a time when your client does arrive they'll have to text you.”
But how are hair stylists going to maneuver around masks during a color, cut or perm?
"Maybe having the client move a part of their mask so we can get the color around,” Norris said.
Gallery West is considering giving clients disposable masks for their appointment, and Norris says she is used to it.
"I've worked 8 hours with a mask before doing permanent makeup because as a state board of California requires me to,” Norris said.
Hair salons can open immediately after completing a safe reopening form.
But nail salons are not included in the Governor's proposal and some stylists don't like the government oversight into how they already normally and safely do hair.
Norris says as for when Gallery West salon reopens, she is getting ready for that to happen within the next week."
47 counties have self-attested for regional variance, meaning they can move further into the reopening process. San Diego County is one of those. On Tuesday, Newsom announced hair salons and barber shops can re-open with a safety plan when a county allows. San Diego County will give an update at 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday.
California is expected to release guidelines for summer camps this week.
Newsom said most businesses have cooperated with health orders and that it's made him proud to be a Californian.
“The vast majority [of businesses] have been incredibly cooperative,” said Newsom.
On Monday, Newsom's office issued guidelines for churches and other houses of worship to safely re-open amid the ongoing pandemic. The rules published Monday include a 21-day period during which attendance must be limited to 25% of building capacity or 100 attendees - whichever is lower. The guidelines also include an array of recommendations for maintaining social distancing and discourage singing and other group activities that may increase the likelihood of transmission.
The state announced Monday that retailers will once again open their doors to shoppers as the state emerges from shutdown orders enacted to slow the spread of the coronavirus. In new guidelines released Monday, the re-opening of retail stores for socially distanced shopping experiences remains subject to approval from officials in each of the state's counties. San Diego County already approved in-person retail shopping with safety modifications last week. The new guidelines apply to retail only and exclude personal services such as hair salons and nail salons.
Last week, Newsom said California would release safety guidelines for television and film crews on Monday, which predominately impact Los Angeles County, although the guidelines haven't been publicly announced. Over Memorial Day weekend, the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on Los Angeles County reached more than 46,000 confirmed cases and 2,116 fatalities. 93% of the deaths involved people with underlying health conditions.
