Nail salons, spas given green light to reopen

Time to schedule those mani-pedis, after Gov. John Carney announced nail salons and other personal services can reopen for business Monday, June 8.

“What I've seen on the ground, by and large, has been very positive,” Carney said during a June 2 press conference.

Personal care services such as nail salons, tattoo parlors and spas, shuttered since March 22 when they were deemed nonessential business by Carney, will be allowed to open at 30 percent of fire code capacity, and by appointment only.

Carney said the second phase of reopening Delaware's economy will begin Monday, June 15, when all businesses now open in Phase 1 will be able to increase their occupancies to 60 percent. Public gatherings of up to 50 people will also be allowed inside with proper social distancing, he said.

Dr. Karyl Rattay, director of the Division of Public Health, shared new guidance on face coverings for children, requiring them for those age 13 and older. However, if they are playing outside and social distancing, she said, children do not have to wear face masks. Children with asthma, anxiety or other issues also do not have to wear masks, she said.

Rattay said DPH is working on offering guidance for face coverings in sports where players cannot social distance. As for requiring people to wear face masks when exercising, both Ratty and Carney said, “It depends.”

“There are some concerns around people who are now working out in gyms,” Rattay said.

Using a video that showed how water droplets are spread when people talk, Rattay said, singing, yelling and talking loudly in a crowd are not safe because more droplets emanate from the mouth and can spread COVID-19 germs.

Social distancing, face masks, and quiet tones have not been practiced by everyone in recent protests across the state, nor since the beginning of May when groups began protesting the shutdown. Rattay said she is not aware of any infection that has been spread from any of the Delaware protests.

Businesses in Wilmington and some in Dover were damaged following what started out as peaceful protests against excessive police force. Protests have erupted across the country following the death of George Floyd, who died after an officer pinned him to the ground with his knee on Floyd's neck.

Carney said he would be looking into ways to help small businesses that were damaged by looters following the Wilmington and Dover protests.