Bars, wineries, nail salons, tattoo parlors and other personal care services can reopen in Los Angeles County as early as Friday if they meet public health protocols for sanitation and physical distancing.
Employees and visitors to all these locations must wear face coverings and remain 6 ft. from others when possible.
Bars will not be allowed to resume entertainment and game offerings, such as karaoke, dancing, open mics, trivia, mixers, bar crawls, pool tables or bowling alleys, according to the county guidelines. Servers will be required to wear face shields if they are interacting with customers who aren’t wearing face coverings while they’re eating or drinking. Outdoor seating, when available, should be prioritized over indoor seating, and indoor capacity must not exceed 50% of the usual maximum seating capacity of the bar. Customers are also not allowed to purchase or consume their drinks when standing inside the bar, nor are they allowed to order or pick up drinks themselves at the bar. The bars, pubs, wineries and tasting rooms must also “limit excessive consumption of alcohol that could deter guests’ compliance with these guidelines.”
For nail salons, tattoo and piercing parlors and other personal care businesses, barries — such as ones made by plexiglass — must be used at reception desks and other areas where physical distancing is not feasible. Appointments must be staggered and no walk-in appointments should be available. Workers should not be allowed to serve multiple clients at a time, and all treatment tables should be covered with a clean table paper, towel, or sheet and replaced after each use. Aside from body art studios, all doors should remain closed for these personal care businesses.
For nail salons in particular, the county recommends placing a plastic partition between clients and the nail technician with “ample space cut out where hands or feet can be slid underneath to conduct the manicure or pedicure has been provided, when feasible.” Clients must wear their face coverings throughout the entire duration of their service, and pedicure bowls should be cleaned with a disinfectant that are labeled as a bactericide, fungicide and virucide. The foot spas and basins must also be cleaned between use, even if there is a disposable plastic liner used.
For skin care and cosmetology services, estheticians are recommended to use face shields when providing treatments to a client’s face and, thus, won’t be wearing a face covering. Wax pots must be emptied and disinfected before being refilled and workers must wear disposable gloves through the duration of the treatment they’re providing.
The announcement comes on the same day the county reported 36 new deaths and 1,051 new confirmed cases of COVID-19.
“COVID-19 has impacted everyone across the county, and we are all feeling exhausted by the safety requirements, yet we still have to find it within ourselves to do our part to protect each other from the spread of the virus. As more sectors re-open, we risk losing all the progress we have made in slowing the spread, if we don’t take every precaution possible to prevent exposing others and ourselves to the virus,” Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said.