Dear Friend --

The City of Long Beach will issue a new health order today that allows hair salons and barbers as well as restaurants for in-person dining to slowly reopen provided these businesses follow guidelines designed to protect employees and patrons and control the spread of COVID-19.

We understand that many restaurants and salons are going to take their time to reopen and we support that 100 percent. We need to be extremely careful as more folks begin to interact, so please wear a face covering and physically distance as we move forward.

Long Beach has met all the requirements to move further in the reopening process. The City has broad community testing in place, with a testing capacity of over 1,000 people per day, and a positivity testing rate of 6.3 percent, which is below the State’s requirement of 8 percent. Long Beach has over 90 contact tracers in place to identify and follow up on confirmed positive cases, and has plans in place to address vulnerable populations such as long term health care facilities and sheltering for those experiencing homelessness.

The City’s hospitals have a surge capacity of over 400, plus 100 more ready to bring on line at the field hospital at Long Beach Arena, which is also a key indicator required by the State.

These and other positive indicators will continue to drive reopening decisions and timelines by City officials.

The new order, effective today and until further notice, require that hair salons and barbers adhere to the following:

• Physical distancing measures will be in place.
• Everyone, including clients, must wear cloth face coverings while in the salon or barber shop and clients are encouraged to wear face coverings with ear loops to ensure the face covering does not interfere with the hair service.
• Magazines, coffee, and other amenities will not be available.
• Clients are encouraged to use credit cards and contactless payment systems. If electronic or card payment is not possible, customers should come with exact cash payment or check, if available.
• Stylists may only serve one client at a time.
• Gathering in waiting areas is prohibited.
• Other personal grooming businesses, such as nail salons and spa services, including massage, facials and waxing are still prohibited.

Additionally, the Order allows restaurants to open at a reduced capacity for in-person dining with the following additional restrictions:

• Physical distancing measures will be in place.
• Outdoor seating and curbside pickup are prioritized.
• Reservations will be encouraged.
• Customers will be asked to wait for their table in their cars or outside the restaurant to prevent crowds from gathering.
• Diners must wear cloth face coverings when not eating.
• Servers must wear both a face covering and a face shield.
• Bar areas will be closed.
• Indoor and outdoor in-person dining capacity will be limited to 60 percent. 

Thank you,