Santa Clara County gyms, salons, tattoo parlors forced to close after recently reopening

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

Gyms, salons, tattoo parlors reopen in Santa Clara Co.

A wave of additional "close-contact" businesses are allowed to reopen starting Monday in Santa Clara County. The county's health officer cleared nail salons, hair salons, gyms, barbershops, and tattoo parlors to open under strict guidelines.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (KGO) -- UPDATE: July 13, 4:45 p.m.: Gov. Newsom's office indicated Santa Clara County had been taken off the watch list, but county officials clarified to ABC7 News they were recently added back on. The county, which just started reopening gyms, hair salons and tattoo parlors Monday morning, will be forced to almost immediately roll all of that back. The county is planning to close all those sectors on Wednesday, July 15 at 12:01 a.m. to comply with the governor's orders that any county on the list for three days must reverse reopening.

This is a breaking news update, previous story below.

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"We've done nothing but preparing and getting the space ready," said Lisa Alberino, owner of Labarre Studios. "It's true, we could have reopened much earlier than this."

Call it a grand reopening of sorts. The fitness studio closed since March 15, welcomed its first in-person class Monday morning just one day before its three-year anniversary of being in business.

Alberino said the business survived by starting virtual classes and uploading hundreds of videos of on-demand workouts for members to try at home.

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But things look a bit different inside of the fitness studio.

Classes are now capped at no more than ten people (down from 21) and everyone is required to wear face coverings at all times.

Regulars will also notice a change in the types of workouts the studio is offering.

"We took cardio out of those classes. We had to make adjustments because we have to workout with masks. This is something new to us today," Alberino said.

Under the revised health order in Santa Clara County, high-intensity cardio is not allowed indoors. That includes aerobic exercise classes and of course machines like the treadmill and elliptical that raise the heart rate and get you panting.

Indoors pools, spas, saunas, steam rooms, showers, and water fountains are still not allowed.

All businesses reopening in the county must now submit a social distancing protocol to be approved by the health department.

Capacity for indoor facilities must also be limited to one employee per 250 square feet and one customer per 150 square feet that's open to the public.

Just a short drive down the Alameda, several nail salons and hair salons that could be back open as of Monday morning still were closed.

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As Santa Clara County moves into this new phase of reopening several businesses are still now allowed including indoor dining, indoor bars, and indoor swimming facilities.

If you spot a business in violation of the county's health order a complaint can be submitted online to the district attorney's website.

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