Coronavirus impact: San Mateo County ordered to close indoor malls, gyms, salons and more by Sunday

ByKris Reyes KGO logo

Sunday, August 2, 2020

State orders San Mateo Co. to close specific indoor businesses by midnight

San Mateo was the final Bay Area county to be added to California's COVID-19 watch list on Wednesday and since it's been 3 days, the state is ordering for indoor businesses that cannot operate outside to close by midnight.

SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Specific indoor businesses in San Mateo County have been ordered to close by 12:01 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 2 after being on the coronavirus watch list for three days.

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At 6 p.m. the county announced businesses that could not be modified to operate outdoors, must close due to state orders.

The impacted businesses include:

Gyms and fitness centers

Places of worship and cultural ceremonies, like weddings and funerals

Offices for non-critical infrastructure sectors

Personal care services, like nail salons and body waxing

Hair salons and barbershops

Shopping malls

Shops that offer tattoos, piercings, and electrolysis may not be operated outdoors and must close, the county guidelines states.

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The announcement comes after some businesses continued to operate on Saturday after county officials warned that some indoor businesses will likely come to a close on Aug 1. Although, on Saturday morning, the county announced it was still in discussion with state officials.

We had to break the news to Daly City barber Derrick Pecson, owner of Black & Gold Barber lounge.

"Honestly, I'm pretty shocked right now," said Pecson. "I didn't know it was happening right now, I thought I would have some time to talk to my guys tonight as well."

Kathy Love, owner of The Hair Hunters, a salon in San Carlos said, "The customers are calling us, 'Are you going to be open Saturday? It says you have to close at midnight.' We don't know we haven't been told yet."

ABC7 News' Kris Reyes met her as she finished with a client, not knowing that would be her last, for now.

"If we had known Thursday, we could've gotten our clients from next week in, they could've gotten their cut and their color, that's the frustrating part," said Love.

Gyms and fitness centers, places of worship, wedding and funeral venues, some offices, other personal care services and shopping malls must all shut down, according to the state, unless they can operate their business outdoors. The disappointment for some, that after weeks on high alert, San Mateo County wasn't able to avoid staying off the watch list.

"It's just new restrictions every couple weeks it's hard to keep up," said Isaac Lopez, owner of New Kingdom construction.

Inside Kathy's salon, she has been diligent and responsible. She even keeps customer records, in case she has to do contact tracing. She feels unfairly punished. Next week, alone she's canceling 15 customers.

"We're not the problem, but we become the problem because they shut us down."

A steep incline is what got San Mateo County on the watch list -- its biggest spike in July saw 136 new COVID-19 cases.

San Mateo County was the final Bay Area county added to the state's coronavirus watch list on Wednesday.

The county says increased social gatherings without proper face coverings, crowded housing conditions and workplace transmission all contribute to the rise in cases across the county.

The state has recommended for the county to improve its contract tracing and to continue stressing the importance of face coverings.

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