New Yorkers seeking an outlet after months of nightmarish conditions will be able to visit a spa or get a tattoo, among other services, starting on Monday.
That’s when phase 3 of the city’s reopening starts, Gov. Cuomo confirmed Sunday.
“Non-hair-related personal care businesses and services” are eligible to reopen, which includes massage therapy, spas, cosmetology, nail salons, UV and non-UV tanning, waxing, tattoo and piercing places and other “appearance-enhancement practitioners.”
But don’t expect jam-packed conditions: Businesses can only operate at 50% capacity, and everyone will be encouraged to stay at least 6 feet apart from one another in keeping with social-distancing guidelines.
Restaurants still won’t be able to offer indoor dining. While that was originally part of the state’s menu of services that can resume during phase 3, Mayor de Blasio took it off the table last week as the coronavirus outbreak surged in localities across the country that may have rushed to reopen.
“Out of an abundance of caution and after seeing other states’ experiences with indoor dining, we will wait to reopen as the city moves to phase 3 tomorrow,” Cuomo confirmed in a statement.
The next phase also covers “low-risk” youth sports with limited spectators.
Baseball, softball, gymnastics, field hockey, cross country and crew will be allowed. Dog runs are also set to reopen officially.
Statewide, eight New Yorkers died and 54 others were hospitalized for COVID-19 on Saturday, according to Cuomo’s office. The official death toll came to 24,904, with 397,131 confirmed coronavirus cases.
The percentage of people testing positive for the virus — seen as a key gauge of control of the spread — declined over the past three days.
In New York City, the percentage went down from 1.5% on Thursday to 0.9% on Saturday.
City beaches reopened to swimming last week. Phase 2 of the reopening process began in the Big Apple on June 8. That covered outdoor dining, barbershops and hair stylists, and more. The move came after normal life ground to a halt in mid-March, when Cuomo shut down “non-essential” businesses and issued stay-at-home orders.
But authorities have attempted to boost precautions as coronavirus spikes in hot spots around the country. Anyone coming from 16 states where there’s been a significant uptick in cases is required to go into a 14-day quarantine upon visiting New York.
“Phase 2 has been going very well in New York City,” de Blasio said last week. “And that means, as we see progress, we’re able to do more and more things to help New Yorkers.”