California Business Owners Unhappy With New COVID-19 Guidelines

By M.G. Alison. First Posted: Sep 02, 2020 05:29 AM EDT

California Business Owners Unhappy With New COVID Guidelines — Photo : REUTERS/Patrick T. Fallon

California business owners slammed the new COVID-19 guidelines rolled out in California on August 31 to determine which businesses can reopen.

And if businesses can reopen, up to how much restriction should their openings be subjected to.

The new guidelines consist of a four-tier color-coded system based on the counties' number of COVID-19 confirmed cases and test positivity results.

California Governor Gavin Newsom recently announced the new system. However, business owners are saying that the new system does not consider that business operations and situations vary in every state, said a report on USA Today.

There is no doubt that business owners are one of the hardest hit by the coronavirus pandemic. And even when California business owners are allowed to open under restrictions, this is still not enough to recover their loses.

The longer they open at less than full capacity, the harder it is for them to recoup their loses. How much more if businesses stay close for longer.

According to the business owners, the state should consider that some businesses can still operate safely even when their counties continue to have a high number of COVID-19 confirmed cases.

Pro Nails Association chairman of the board Mike Vo said the new COVID-19 guidelines do not make sense to them. Perhaps because while manicurists are not allowed to work indoors, hair salons can receive customers provided that they follow safety protocols such as the wearing of masks and having plastic barriers.

While the California business owners disagree, Newsom said that the new approach is based on what they, especially the health officials, have learned of the coronavirus pandemic in the past months, according to CBS's article.

Newsom further explained that the state needs to adopt a more stringent approach that is simple and slower.

According to the governor, the state has to adapt to the new 4-tier system because the pandemic is here to stay for a longer period, especially since scientists said that a vaccine would be out in 2021.

An ABC report stated that California's COVID-19 website lists the tier classification of the counties and the California business owners who are allowed to reopen their establishments.

This is a more cautious approach than Newsom's first effort back in the spring. The governor then had immediately decided to ease the restrictions that led to a surge in COVID-19 positive cases, which prompted another shutdown for the state.

California currently tallies the highest number of COVID-19 confirmed cases with more than 700,000. The United States now has more than six million confirmed coronavirus cases.

On a positive note, the number of California cases is declining, which would pave the way for more business establishments to be opened, but still in a limited capacity.

California business owners would have to hope for the best, especially that they have to fight to survive the pandemic and not have to close permanently.