Barbershops and hair salons allowed to reopen in El Dorado County

SOUTH LAKE TAHOE, Calif. - Barbershops and hair salons in El Dorado County and the rest of the state may now open as long as they have a safety plan in place. During California Governor Gavin Newsom's press conference Monday, he gave the green light to these two businesses as long as they follow the guidelines he and the California Department of Public Health (CDPH) have published.

Following Newsom's announcement, El Dorado County Public Health Officer Dr. Nancy Williams issued a statement.

“My attestation letter clearly states ‘Criteria placed on businesses and activities allowed under Stage 2 are that they must develop and implement plans for safe opening that are based on the industry-specific guidelines that have been issued by CDPH... Stage 2 activities may commence in El Dorado County as soon as the individual businesses have developed and are implementing their plans according to their industry's and general guidelines from CDPH," said Dr. Williams.

Not all beauty services will be allowed at this time though. Services that cannot be performed with face coverings on both the worker and customer or that require touching the customer’s face, e.g., eyelash services, eyebrow waxing and threading, facials, etc., should be suspended until those types of services are
allowed to resume.

"We have been working on all of our PPE (personal protective equipment) this whole time, and now that we have the guidelines we are putting our policy in place and moving our salon around," said Angela Zajic, owner of Rah Hair Studio in South Lake Tahoe.

Zajic said they are getting policies in place and moving around the salon to follow the new guidelines, and Belfor Property Restoration is going in to perform heavy-duty cleaning before their anticipated opening day of June 1.

“This guidance does not include nail services and there is no indication of when those guidelines are forthcoming from the State," said Dr. Williams.

“It’s critical to remember the role of personal responsibility as the County allows for more activity, namely to stay home if ill for any reason, maintain a minimum of six feet from anyone besides one’s own household members, and practice personal hygiene such as proper handwashing and wiping commonly-touched surface areas," the health director added.