Fresno County Pushes Pause on Reopening Nail Salons, Tattoo Parlors

Nail salons, body waxing salons, and tattoo parlors can open soon in California, but in Fresno County, they’ll have to wait two weeks.

Late Thursday night, the state issued this guidance to county health directors: “Counties that are approved to progress further into the Resilience Roadmap can decide to open the following industries but are strongly encouraged to wait until June 19, 2020: Personal services, like nail salons, body waxing, and tattoo parlors.”

Fresno County: June 26 Opening

In a Friday morning Zoom call with reporters, interim Fresno County health officer Dr. Rais Vohra laid out his reasons for waiting until June 26.

“That will be in line with the opening of family entertainment centers, and movie theaters towards the end of this month,” Vohra said. “It will give our team and our environmental health experts more time to work with these industries to make sure they have safe practices and good information and resources in place.”

Nail Salons Plead to Governor Newsom

Stylists have shown up at county board meetings, pleading for officials to let them go to work so they can earn a living without making house calls that violate the rules.

Related Story: California Nail, Hair Salons Plead to Open With Other Shops

This week, an association of salons and barber shops said it would sue to try to force Newsom to let them reopen sooner, arguing they already undergo extensive training on sanitation and are licensed by the state.

Newsom said on May 5 that 33 salons that had illegally opened shut down after state officials called them. He said salons are in the next phase of the state’s reopening plan, which “may not be more than a month away.”

His comments came a day after he said California’s first case of community transmission of the virus was tied to a nail salon, which raised red flags for health officials about when the sector should reopen. Those remarks drew a backlash from the beauty industry and leaders in the Vietnamese American community, who own the vast majority of nail salons in the state.

Salon Defiance

Some salons have already opened in defiance of Newsom’s order.

Shortly after one opened Wednesday inside Yuba Sutter Mall in northern California, a line stretched out of the shop. Many customers were not wearing masks.

The mall’s general manager asked the salon to move to an appointment-only operation to limit the number of people standing in line.

(The Associated Press contributed to this story.)