Hair salons, barbershops, and places of worship can now reopen in SLO County
–As of Tuesday, places of worship, hair salons, and barbershops in San Luis Obispo County can open with limited services and/or modifications to operations, the county announced in a statement.
These changes are only effective upon approval by the County Department of Public Health, as directed by the State of California.
“We’re pleased to announce that our County Public Health Department has approved modified in-person religious service and hair salon and barbershop services,” said County Public Health Officer, Dr. Penny Borenstein.
The new State (PDF) guidance for religious services and cultural ceremonies encourages organizations to continue online services and activities, including protecting individuals who are most at risk for more severe COVID-19, and older adults and people with specific medical conditions. Places of worship can begin in-person worship/religious services and funerals with a maximum of 25 percent capacity or 100 attendees, whichever is lower. Religious children’s school instruction is still prohibited under the State’s order.
The new State (PDF) guidance for hair salons and barbershops limits services to those that can be provided with both the worker and customer wearing face coverings for the entirety of the service. Services such as waxing and facials that cannot be performed with face covering on both the worker and customer should be suspended until those types of services are allowed to resume. Personal services, such as nail salons, spas and massage are not allowed to open at this time.
Prior to reopening, SLO County places of worship and businesses must complete and sign the County “Ready to Reopen” toolkit’s COVID-19 Self-Evaluation & Certification Form for each facility. The toolkit, signage, and reopening public health criteria and guidance documents per industry can be found at EmergencySLO.org/reopen.
