California nail salons permitted to reopen statewide, even in most restrictive counties

Nail salons in California were given the green light to reopen indoor operations on Tuesday, according to State Health Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.

Ghaly said during an afternoon press briefing that the state has relaxed restrictions on nail salons and will allow counties to make their own decisions on when nail salons in their area can reopen and when. The decision applies statewide, even in counties that are in the most-restrictive tier of the state's economic-reopening roadmap.

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Individual counties, however, still have to approve such operations.

The state had previously barred nail salons from offering indoor operations in counties in the restrictive "purple" tier.

Although the exact guidelines were not immediately released, the state will likely mandate limited indoor capacity, along with standard measures such as mandatory face coverings and social distancing.

In a statement to FOX 11, officials with Los Angeles County said, "the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health uses the available science and current data to guide the reopening of business and community sectors, in consultation with the Board of Supervisors. We just were informed about the state change and will be consulting with the Board of Supervisors to determine the timing of adopting changes to the County Health Officer Order that would allow nail salons to resume under modified indoor operations."

Nail industry leaders had been pushing for state regulators to include nail salons in a lower tier of reopening, citing the fact that nail technicians must be licensed and have vigorous cleaning protocols they are required to follow, even before the pandemic began back in March.

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Some nail salons have added additional coronavirus-safety measures, including things such as mandatory gloves and masks, extra cleaning and strict sanitizing measures, as well as installing Plexiglass shields between customers and nail technicians.

RELATED: Nail salon adding partitions between pedicure, manicure stations to make customers feel safe

Before a nail salon can reopen, they will be required to meet the state's reopening safety requirements.