CALIFORNIA—Hair salons and barber shops in Los Angeles County are now allowed to reopen at 25 percent capacity. Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn made the announcement on Wednesday, September 2 via Twitter.
“LA County’s Health Officer Order will be updated to allow hair salons and barber shops to resume indoor operations at 25% capacity,” Hahn tweeted. “Options for increasing capacity will be re-evaluated three weeks after Labor Day.”
The new order is effective immediately, and businesses are encouraged to “to continue outdoor operations when possible, and to offer in-door operations for those services that cannot be provided outdoors,” the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health said in a press release.
California Governor Gavin Newsom announced on Friday, August 28, a blueprint for counties in the state to determine which businesses could reopen based on “how prevalent COVID-19 is in each county and the extent of community spread.”
Counties fall into one of four colored tiers – Purple (Widespread), Red (Substantial), Orange (Moderate) and Yellow (Minimal). Los Angeles County is currently under the purple tier.
On Friday, August 28, the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health announced the county would not allow for hair salons to reopen despite the state’s revision of reopening guidelines. It allowed counties even in the “Widespread” tier to determine whether to reopen at a limited capacity.
“Although the State today revised slightly the list of permitted activities in Tier 1 to allow for the re-opening of both hair salons for indoor services,” the Department of Public Health tweeted on August 28.
In addition to allowing hair salons and barber shops to reopen, Hahn also said via Twitter that “K-12 schools may offer in-person learning for small groups of students with individualized learning plans” beginning on September 14. Students requiring instruction for English as a Second Language (ESL) or students needing assessments or specialized in-school services are also included in the order.
Operation can be expanded to 50 percent capacity if the county moves from the purple tier to the red tier, as the state stipulates.
Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer indicated in a press release that for Los Angeles County to meet the criteria to move to the red tier, the 7-day average case rate and the 7-day average positivity percentage must remain steady.
