Santa Cruz Co. Looks To Reopen Restaurants, Hair Salons And More

SANTA CRUZ, CA — The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors is set to consider an application to move the county into Stage 2 of California's four-part reopening plan during an emergency meeting Friday.

Dine-in restaurants, barbershops and hair salons could reopen under Stage 2, the county said in a press release. Santa Cruz County would be the first county in the Bay Area to enter into Stage 2, if the state approves its application.

Offices, child care facilities and outdoor museums are also among those that may reopen in the Stage 2 tier. Nail salons and tattoo shops would remain closed and are not expected to reopen until the state enters into Stage 3, the county said.

Any businesses that reopen would need to respect social distancing requirements.

The application review process could take a few days, but could even receive same-day approval, said Santa Cruz County Health Officer Gail Newel said during a news conference.

Two weeks ago, the county was far from meeting the state's criteria to start reopening the economy. The criteria changed May 18 and the next day, county officials realized beginning to reopen may be a possibility.

County staff were "working fast and furious over the holiday weekend" to pull together its application, Newel said. She said she's in the final editing stages.

County officials noted that they could rescind guidelines to reopen businesses, should Santa Cruz County fall short of the state's criteria.

The county must meet certain requirements when it comes to having contact tracing, testing and hospital capacity, for example.

Restaurants, barbershops and hair salons may review the state's guidelines to reopen here.

Read the proposed plan here: