L.A. County to Reopen Restaurants, Hair Salons

The California state government gave Los Angeles County approval to start reopening restaurants, hair salons and barbershops on May 29.

Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors Chair Kathryn Barger announced the news on Twitter, stating: “This further brings our communities together and resumes a sense of normalcy, representing monumental progress for Los Angeles County as we join the vast majority of other regions in California on the path toward reopening and recovery.”

This further brings our communities together and resumes a sense of normalcy, representing monumental progress for Los Angeles County as we join the vast majority of other regions in California on the path toward reopening and recovery. (2)

— Supervisor Kathryn Barger (@kathrynbarger) May 29, 2020

I am grateful to our state & local partners for their collaboration in helping us transition to being Safer at Work and Safer in our Communities. Our ability to continue on the path of reopening depends on continued physical distancing and face covering guidelines. (3/3)

— Supervisor Kathryn Barger (@kathrynbarger) May 29, 2020

County Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said during a May 29 press briefing that restaurants and hair salons can reopen as soon as they can comply with the county’s directives for reopening; the reopened businesses will be operating on an honor-system basis to follow the county directives.

Restaurants may now resume in-person dining with the following safeguards in place #COVID19 #RoadmapToRecovery pic.twitter.com/2T0fKwsyLF

— Los Angeles County (@CountyofLA) May 29, 2020

According to KTLA, the county was able to get approval to start reopening restaurants and hair salons because the COVID-19 positive rate has been at 6.7% this past week; the state requires counties to have a positivity rate of below 8% in order to accelerate reopening.

On May 26, the county allowed houses of worship to reopen and in-store retail shopping to resume with social distancing guidelines in place.

There were 1,824 newly confirmed COVID-19 cases on May 29 and 50 new deaths from the virus in the county, bringing the respective totals to 51,562 and 2,290. County Public Health Services Director Christina Ghaly said that the number of new cases and hospitalizations have remained flat in the county.