Gov. Greg Abbott
Hair salons in Texas can re-open beginning Friday, May 8, and gyms 10 days later on May 18, Gov. Greg Abbott announced today. He offered no timeline on when bars will be allowed to reopen, saying that officials are still working out procedures through which bars can reopen safely.
Hairstylists will be able to work with only one customer at a time, and people waiting in barbershops will have to maintain a six-foot separation or wait outside, under the rules Abbott announced. Although he said officials “strongly recommend” that barbers/hair stylists and their customers wear masks, he stopped short of mandating it.
Gyms, when they are allowed to re-open, will be allowed to operate at only 25 percent capacity and will be required to disinfect equipment after each use. Showers and locker rooms will remain closed.
Abbott also warned that if people don’t continue to practice “distancing strategies,” there will be an increase in COVID-19 transmission, and “If that happens, it will lead to some counties having to impose stricter” regulations.
As of today (Tuesday, May 5) at 1:31 CST, there are 33,557 cases of COVID-19 reported in Texas, and 930 deaths, according to the New York Times’ “Coronavirus in the U.S.” map. The map also lists Texas as one of 21 states where new cases are increasing.
According to the Times, “The outbreak in this country, which now has the highest number of known cases in the world, has exploded over the last two months. In recent weeks, more than 20,000 new cases have been announced across the United States each day, keeping the country on a stubborn plateau instead of the sharp downward curve scientists had hoped for. The number of known cases now exceeds the combined populations of Washington, D.C., Anchorage, Alaska, and Topeka, Kan.”