Coronavirus California

Pro sports, hair salons, churches may reopen in next few weeks, Newsom says

The governor hinted even more reopenings would be allowed at the state level shortly.

ByAlix Martichoux KGO logo

Tuesday, May 19, 2020

Gov. Newsom announces pro sports, hair salons may reopen in next few weeks

Professional sports, hair salons and church gatherings may be allowed to resume operations as early as June in California, said Gov. Gavin Newsom. He said details on how and when they could reopen would come in the next week or so.

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom laid out early guidance Monday for much of the state to move into further reopening in the coming weeks, including hair salons, church gatherings and even sporting events.

WATCH COVID-19 UPDATES: Daily briefings from CA, Bay Area officials

From Mustards Grill in Napa, Newsom made the case that California has made significant progress on hospitalizations, ICU hospitalizations, testing, contact tracing and distributing protective equipment. With that in mind, he announced that in the coming days and weeks, the state was prepared to allow even larger counties to reopen dine-in restaurants and office buildings as part of Phase 2.

"We estimate roughly 53 of the 58 counties would be eligible to move into this phase," Newsom said. He didn't specify which five counties wouldn't be eligible for further reopening.

Newsom said even more reopening would be allowed at the state level shortly.

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"If we hold the rate of transmissions... we'll be making announcements statewide, not just with the regional variances, that would allow for retail not just to be pick-up, but in-store retail to be loosened up," he said.

The governor added professional sports may be allowed to resume as early as the first week of June. Those sporting events would only be allowed to be held without live audiences.

Hair salons and churches may be allowed to reopen at the state level around the same time, he said.

More specific details on when and how sports, salons and churches may be allowed to resume activities would come "In the next week or so," Newsom said.

Local restrictions may be more strict, depending on county public health leaders.

PHASE 2: Where every Bay Area county stands on opening stores, offices and other businesses

Over the past week or so, the state has been granting counties permission to reopen dine-in restaurants, offices and more on a county-by-county basis. In order to get permission to do so, counties must prove COVID-19 is under control locally.

Newsom and Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly announced a few adjustments to the conditions counties must meet:

No more than 20 people hospitalized in the county for the last 14 days
No more than 25 individuals diagnosed with COVID-19 per 100,000 residents over past 14 days
Test positivity rate of less than 8%

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