May 7 (UPI) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced that the state will move into the second phase of its plan to ease its stay-at-home order, allowing several types of business to open with restrictions.
The updated guidelines will allow retailers such as book stores, clothing stores, toy stores and florists to reopen for curbside pickup beginning Friday as California and other states lift guidelines related to preventing the spread of COVID-19.
In order for these businesses to reopen they will be required to implement contactless payment procedures, provide hand sanitizer for employees and customers, and ensure employees have personal protective gear.
Manufacturers will also be allowed to reopen while keeping break rooms closed and creating outdoor break areas that allow people to maintain appropriate physical distance. Warehouses can reopen as long as drivers carry sanitation materials during deliveries and wear personal protective equipment at each stop.
Office buildings, dine-in restaurants and shopping malls will be required to remain closed, but the state plans to release guidelines on Tuesday for allowing these businesses, as well as outdoor museums, to reopen.
Nevada Gov. Steve Sisolak announced that restaurants, retailers, open-air malls, barbershops, hair salons and nail salons will be permitted to reopen with some restrictions on May 15.
Restaurants and retailers will be required to operate at 50 percent of their allowed capacity and are still encouraged to operate mostly for take-out, pickup and drop-off orders.
All restaurant employees are required to wear face coverings and customers are encouraged to wear them as well. Sisolak said reservations should be required for dine-in customers, booths should be spaced 6 feet apart, bar tops and bar areas should remain closed and patrons waiting to be seated should wait outside.
Barber shops, hair salons and nail salons are encouraged to place partitions or walls between each work station and ensure each chair is spaced 6 feet apart. Face coverings are also required for these businesses and services must be provided through appointment only.
Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson announced the state’s three gaming casinos will be allowed to open at one-third capacity on May 18 while enforcing “strict social distancing.”
Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear said restaurants in the state will be able to reopen on May 22 with 33 percent capacity and outdoor seating followed by movie theaters and fitness centers on June 1, public and private campgrounds on June 11, and childcare with reduced capacity as well as potentially low-touch and outdoor youth sports on June 15.
Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner questioned Texas Gov. Abbott’s plan to reopen the state, including allowing hair salons to reopen on Friday, saying “the virus is still present in our community.”
“Once you removed the enforcement mechanism, there’s nothing you can do to enforce something that you can’t enforce,” Turner said.
President Donald Trump praised Abbott’s efforts to reopen the state during a Thursday meeting at the White House, including the governor’s decision to allow a salon owner to be released from jail after she opened her business before restrictions were lifted.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo also said Thursday that it was “absurd” for the state to weigh how many deaths are worth reopening businesses.
“This is not a situation where you can go to the American people and say, ‘How many lives are you willing to lose to reopen the economy?’ We don’t want to lose any lives,” he said.
