DeWine: Salon, restaurant reopening plan a ‘high-risk operation’
COLUMBUS — In discussing updates to the state's expanded reopening plan on Thursday, Gov. Mike DeWine said, "This is a high-risk operation. But it would be high risk if we didn't do anything."
DeWine announced Thursday that personal service providers — like salons, barbershops and day spas — will reopen May 15. Food establishments will be permitted to provide outdoor dining on May 15. Indoor dining can start May 21.
With the reopening of personal services and restaurants and bars, 92.5 percent of the Ohio private economy will be open, said Lt. Gov. John Husted.
While the coronavirus transmission rate in the state has decreased, death rates continue to increase. DeWine said it's up to individuals to continue making healthy choices as the state opens up.
"We can expect that the opening up of this economy is going to take [case numbers] higher," he said. "But we have to do everything in our power not to let those numbers go very high."
Restaurants
Treva Weaver, a member of the state restaurant working group and owner of Zoup! Eatery, explained some of the best practices restaurants in the state will be expected to follow upon reopening.
Restaurants will be required to seat groups of 10 or less in compliance with social distancing guidelines. Customers will be asked to self-monitor for COVID-19 symptoms. Open congregate areas will remain closed, but spaces such as dance floors can be used for socially distanced eating.
The working group decided not to differentiate between bars and restaurants to provide flexibility to business owners who can alter their operations in compliance with state guidelines.
"You might be asked to wear a mask, and that's going to be at the discretion of the owners," said Weaver.
Thursday's announcements only left Jack Kravitz, owner of Kravitz Deli in Liberty, with more questions.
He operates both an indoor location, the Belmont Avenue deli, as well as the indoor/outdoor Garden Cafe at Mill Creek MetroParks' Fellows Riverside Gardens. He expects the latter won't reopen until the MetroParks does or the weather warms up.
Though diners, under the new state guidelines, won't be required to wear masks, Kravitz said he'd prefer they did, "whether they find that 'offensive' or not."
He said he feels it's also unclear how the 10-person table limit will be handled, especially at his MetroParks cafe, or how kitchen workers will be able to keep an appropriate distance.
"I'm very guarded on this. I'm not saying 'I'm excited' because I don't know what it's going to mean," he said.
Though Weaver said earlier Thursday buffet-style dining would become table-service only, Kravitz wondered if COVID-19 spells the end of buffet dining altogether.
For the deli, Kravitz said he's already ordered plexiglass shields and new credit card readers which won't require customers to hand off their cards to employees.
"COVID is not going away, and we're not going to do anything that will endanger the staff and our customers," Kravitz said.
The deli has shifted its weight toward carryout service, and he said he hopes Valley residents choose to order out rather than in — at least for now.
"Will there still be a preference for curbside carryout? … I hope people aren't gonna think that, 'Hey the pandemic is over.' That's just as bad," Kravitz said. "What I don't want to see: If they [reopen] then come September, all of a sudden, we're all closed down again. I don't know if [the industry will] survive it."
Salons
Debbie Penzone, president and CEO of Charles Penzone Salons, participated in the state working group to produce guidelines for the reopening of salons, barbershops and day spas.
During Thursday's briefing, she shared some of the recommendations, like removing magazines, product testing and self-serve beverages from waiting areas.
Clients may be asked to wear masks, said Penzone, "especially with our services being so personal and so close."
Shauna Graham was at her backup job Thursday, working the front gate at a Cleveland-area plant, so she missed DeWine's announcement that she'd soon be able to reopen her salon after nearly two months.
Her clients let her know. On Thursday afternoon, her phone was "blowing up" with new appointments, she said.
Graham operates New Styles Salon along Mahoning Avenue in North Jackson, where she and 10 other hairstylists work as independent contractors.
"We're really ready to go back," Graham told Mahoning Matters Thursday. "We're not scared to go back. We're ready to bring whoever wants to come in."
Neither Graham nor her co-workers have been able to receive unemployment benefits, she said. Graham, who leases the salon building where her co-workers operate essentially as subcontractors, said she was denied pandemic unemployment assistance because she files a Schedule C tax form claiming the salon as a sole proprietorship, rather than a Schedule K-1 for a business partnership.
That way, her workers were able to make more. It also means Graham didn't file a 1099 tax form, which would have shown her income was from a business that had been shuttered by the state.
Luckily, the salon's landlord has postponed rent payments, Graham said. But she was getting ready to buy her own home, and going the last two months without work chewed through those savings.
"If I wouldn't have had that money put away to buy a house I wouldn't have been able to do this. There was no way," she said. "This job my friend allowed me to take definitely saved me. It helped me get my head above water."
Graham said she expects New Styles will reopen May 15, while she'll return May 19, after working through her two-week notice at her backup job.
As the state guidelines were still brand-new Thursday, she said she's not sure how the salon will approach new safety measures like social distancing requirements, but she knows though stylists will be required to wear masks, she won't require that of clients. She said salons already work under strict state sanitation guidelines.
"Personally, I never thought that they should have shut us down. We have the same sanitation requirements that a hospital follows. A lot of us were very upset about it. We take our sanitation very seriously," Graham said. "I guess, in the end, we're just happy to get back in there; happy to get our clients again and take as many safety measures as we can so that our clients feel as comfortable as we are.
"We're hoping that second wave [of coronavirus cases] they're predicting in the fall — we're hoping that doesn't come and we don't get shut down again," she added. "If they shut us down again, I think that might be the end for a lot of us."
Paul Ciarniello, who owns Casals dé Spa & Salon, is looking to peers in the salon world for guidance. The state's guidelines have been vague, so "it's like the wild west," said Ciarniello.
Van Michael Salon, in Georgia — which was permitted to open April 24 — has essentially "written the playbook" on how to reopen a salon during the pandemic, Ciarniello said. For, example, the salon is not doing blow dries out of concern that the airflow can circulate virus particles.
In anticipation of reopening, Ciarniello ordered masks and hand sanitizer, installed plexiglass barriers and arranged the chairs to comply with social distancing guidelines.
He plans to have employees start calling clients May 15 and schedule for the following Monday.
"There's been a lot of different emotions," Ciarniello, regarding his team. Some employees think it's too soon. Others were asking about the protocol for reopening.
"The next step is, before I start calling clients and opening the phones, I do have to figure out who's ready to come back. It's been a whirlwind since 2," Ciarniello said Thursday evening. "It's terrifying."
He is in the process of developing sanitizing protocol and isn't sure if he'll have enough masks to require that clients don them during appointments.
"I hope our clients are patient with us," said Ciarniello. "I'm not going to do this unless it's the safest possible way we can do what we love. I hope clients can respect that."
Challenge to DeWine
During Thursday's briefing, DeWine responded to the effort of state Republicans to curb the power of Dr. Amy Acton, director of health for the Ohio Department of Health,
On Wednesday night, the State House passed an amendment to limit the executive branch's power to issue public health directives.
When legislators gathered, both votes and the decision to wear a face-covering fell upon party lines, reported the Ohio Capital Journal.
Speaker of the House Larry Householder, of Glenford, said he didn't even own a mask. House Republicans, including Householder, have criticized DeWine's approach to opening the economy.
If the bill passes the Ohio Senate, "I would veto," said DeWine.
"I don't understand why anyone would think this is a great time to be changing the law to be taking away the power of the executive branch to protect people," said DeWine.
The amendment would prevent the state from being able to respond to issues like E. coli outbreaks and radiation scares, DeWine said.
He argued the actions the law in question has allowed the state to take have been successful.
He also pointed out the bill is confusing, because it does not give courts a standard to follow. Per the proposed legislation, anyone in the state could file a lawsuit against health orders.
"It would be nothing but chaos," said DeWine. "I don't understand it. We're in the middle of a crisis."
Here are the full state guidelines for reopening restaurants and bars and personal beauty services establishments, taken from the Responsible Restart Ohio site. To view a full-sized version, click the icon in the upper-right:
Other coronavirus news
• According to the latest figures Thursday from the Ohio Department of Health, the state is reporting 21,132 confirmed cases of the coronavirus. There have been 1,044 confirmed cases in Mahoning County; 371 in Trumbull County; and 311 in Columbiana County.
• Statewide, there have been 1,153 confirmed deaths, including 115 in Mahoning County; 35 in Trumbull; and 32 in Columbiana. Mahoning County's 115 reported COVID-19 deaths on Thursday was third among Ohio's 88 counties; Lucas County had 155; Cuyahoga County reported 136 deaths.
• Gov. Mike DeWine announced Thursday his plan to reopen more Ohio businesses. Hair and nail salons and day spas may open May 15; bars and restaurants in Ohio can open for outside dining May 15 and for inside dining May 21.
• The U.S. Department of Labor reported Thursday morning that another 61,046 Ohio residents filed for jobless benefits during the week ending May 2. That brings the state's seven-week unemployment filings to about 865,000.
• Another 96,603 Pennsylvania residents filed for jobless benefits during the week ending May 2. That brings the state's total unemployment filings in the past seven weeks to about 1.7 million.
• Nationally, about 3.2 million people filed for unemployment claims last week, bringing the seven-week total across the United States to more than 33 million.
• According to the Pennsylvania Department of Health on Thursday, there are 52,915 COVID-19 cases in the state which have led to 3,416 deaths. There are 69 cases in Lawrence County with 7 deaths; 70 cases in Mercer County with 1 death.
• Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf said he opposes declaring bankruptcy in the face of the state's anticipated budget shortfall as a result of the pandemic. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said financially struggling states should file for bankruptcy rather than wait for another coronavirus relief bill.
• The Canfield Fair Board of Directors said Thursday it has "hope and intention" to have the fair as scheduled Sept. 2-7. Mahoning County Health Commissioner Ryan Tekac said, as of right now, such an event would not comply with state guidelines.
• White House Fruit Farm in Canfield reopened its market for walk-in customers Thursday. Among safety measures are masks and gloves for employees and plexiglass at cashier checkouts. Customers are asked to wear masks.
This story was originally published May 8, 2020 at 3:52 AM with the headline "DeWine: Salon, restaurant reopening plan a ‘high-risk operation’."