GEORGIA – Barber shops, nail salons, gyms and a few other businesses reopened in Georgia on Friday as the Republican governor eased a month-long shutdown despite warnings from health experts of a potential new surge of coronavirus infections.
As some customers ventured back to these venues, the confirmed number of COVID-19 deaths in the United States surpassed 50,000, according to a tally compiled by John Hopkins University from government figures. The actual death toll is believed to be far higher.
With deaths and infections still rising in Georgia, many business owners planned to stay closed despite of Gov. Brian Kemp’s assurance that hospital visits and new cases have leveled off enough for barbers, tattoo artists, massage therapists and personal trainers to return to work with restrictions.
Kemp’s timeline to restart the economy proved too ambitious even for President Donald Trump, who said he disagrees with the fellow Republican’s plan. On Twitter, Trump said that neither he nor Vice President Mike Pence ever gave Gov. Brian Kemp an OK on those few businesses outside of the guidelines, saying spas, beauty salons, tattoo parlors, & barber shops should take a slower path.
In Camden County, On The Green Salon and Day Spa in St. Marys told News4Jax it’s remaining closed Friday, but it will be doing a soft opening on Tuesday.
“We are in the beauty industry to make people feel good and people need that right now, not just physically, but mentally,” said Maryrose Cannistraro, the owner.
According to a model used by the White House, the state shouldn’t start to safely re-open until at least June 22.
Inside the salon Friday, chairs were empty and the doors were closed.
“We wanted to give ourselves this week to just be ready to open on Tuesday,” Cannistraro said.
On The Green Salon and Day Spa was shut down by the city more than a month ago. With employees needing to figure out day care for their children and getting their appointments back, the salon will open with new policies in place.
Booths are six feet away from each other and guests will have to wait out in their car until their appointment. Only four hairdressers will work at a time with one client in the chair at a time at each station, so it’s always less than ten, the owner told News4Jax.
There are mixed reactions about kickstarting the economy in Georgia, but for Cannistraro, she said she’s making sure her staff is equipped with masks, sanitizer, and new sanitation certifications.
“It’s going to be a really different way than what we usually have,” Cannistraro said.
On Monday, restaurants will be allowed to resume dine-in service and movies theaters will be allowed to open.
Some restaurant owners on Friday told News4Jax their dining rooms will be open to customers. Others are choosing to stay closed.
Curbside pick up and take out has become a new way of life during the COVID-19 Pandemic for Donte Habersham’s Brunswick restaurant, Mr. Shuck’s Seafood.
Habersham said Mr. Shuck’s dining room is staying closed.
“For me personally, I wouldn’t want anyone coming to my table, serve me with a mask or having to social distance. I felt the safe thing to do for everybody was to stay closed until June the 1st," Habersham said.
Other restaurants in town like Toucan’s Ale House say the pandemic has hurt business. The owner says the restaurant plans to open up its dining room on Monday.
“We have a lot of people that haven’t collected unemployment yet and they need money. With no food, no money, with kids that’s tough," Harris said.
Gov. Kemp is imposing restrictions on restaurants that open up dining rooms:
- No more than 10 people per 500 square feet are allowed inside at once
- No more than 6 people per party
- No salad bars or buffets
- Customers must be separated through floor markings or wait in cars
"If you’ve got to have restrictions on opening back up, I think its too soon,” Habersham said.
Habersham says he hopes the community will continue to support small businesses.
News4Jax also contacted the Kings Bay Stadium Cinemas 9 which is owned by the Georgia Theatre Company. It said:
“Although the Governor will allow us to open our theatres in Georgia on Monday, we will not be opening for several weeks. We want to make sure we are providing a safe and comfortable environment for our employees and our customers. We are putting systems in place and ordering supplies that we will need to achieve the level of safety our employees and customers will expect.”
The statement continued, “The first major new release, Tenant, directed by Christopher Nolan, is scheduled to be released on July 17. We will open a few weeks before then with repertory films to build some momentum ahead of Tenant. We believe there is a lot of pint-up demand for movie-going and expect people want to get out of their houses to see a movie as soon as they can.”
On Friday, President Trump signed a $484 billion bill to aid employers and hospitals under stress from the pandemic — the latest federal effort to help keep afloat businesses that have had to close or scale down. Over the past five weeks, roughly 26 million people have filed for jobless aid, or about 1 in 6 U.S. workers.
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Crary reported from New York. Associated Press reporters from around the world contributed.
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Follow AP coverage of the pandemic at http://apnews.com/VirusOutbreak and https://apnews.com/UnderstandingtheOutbreak