The increase in COVID-19 cases requires immediate action in 30 counties; business owners are affected

California Governor Gavin Newsom on Monday ordered the immediate closure of dozens of establishments in 30 counties following the spike in COVID-19 cases in the Golden State.

In a press conference, he reported that bars, gyms, churches, beauty salons, barbershops, shopping malls, offices that do not perform essential work, cinemas, museums and other centers of family activities should close shortly with the aim of stopping the increase in infections and hospitalizations.

Restaurants were ordered to also cease service indoors, but could continue to operate if they have patios or outdoor spaces for their diners. They can also continue taking orders to be picked up at the establishment (take out).

“We are seeing an increase in the spread of the virus, so it is incumbent on all of us to seriously recognize that COVID-19 will not disappear soon, until there is an effective vaccine or therapy,” said the governor.

Governor Gavin Newson.

The state reported until yesterday 329,162 cases of COVID-19 and 7,040 deaths, in addition to a 28% increase in hospitalizations in the last two weeks. Only on Sunday 8,358 cases were registered in the state.

“We are returning to our original order to stay home with certain modifications, this is still a deadly disease,” added Newsom, who clarified that the new state order would take effect on July 13.

Among the 30 affected counties are: Los Angeles, Orange, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, Ventura, Riverside and Fresno, among others.

The Newsom news came only hours after the Los Angeles School District announced that students will not return to classrooms when the school year begins in August.

The nail salons had even installed Plexiglas to protect employees and customers.

Community impact

“That news just hit me. My clients are tagging me [en redes sociales] with what the governor said and I was very anxious, ”said Mayra Cortez, an independent stylist from the city of Moorpark, in Ventura County.

For this 33-year-old Mexican, the governor’s order arrives to fill her with concern and uncertainty, since her husband will also be affected.

“My husband is a barber, so he beats us very hard, because he is also an independent employee,” Cortez explained.

“We depend on this money, I did not qualify for unemployment [porque] When you have your own business you do not have benefits, we have to be very prepared, because in my case if you do not have your personal savings you see it very difficult ”.

She rents her workstation, which on average has a monthly cost between $ 700 and $ 1000 depending on the location of the beauty salon, to which she must add the investment of the products she uses with her clients.

“It is a lot of stress in many ways, because I have only been back for a month and I have not yet finished the first round of people who I could not attend due to the first quarantine,” he explains.

“It is a lot of pressure, because we have the stress of the clients but also personally, because I have a family, we have our house, the payments and we depend on this,” confessed the mother of two little girls, 11 and 3 years old.

In the gyms, the order to close again was not a surprise, at least as expressed by Mario Flores, manager of the Esporta Fitness Club.

“I already imagined that it could happen again due to the increase in the cases that we have had in California and it is not so much the surprise… Unfortunately, it affects our employees and families especially, unemployment has already been exhausted and I do not know what will happen. happen now if we have to rest them again, ”said the 44-year-old Salvadoran.

The unemployment rate in California until May was 16.3%, well above the 4.3% registered in 2019 in that same month.

On the feelings of the clients, Flores expressed that they were a little outraged by the new closure of the gym.

“It generates disgust in people who have exercise as a lifestyle,” he said. “Since the news was released, the phones don’t stop ringing, there is a lot of discontent on the part of the users, because for them exercise is a physical and mental therapy that helps them a lot.”

The manager also expressed that many of its users are affected because they need to attend the gym to stay in good health.

“Here we receive people who qualify through their medical insurance, since their doctors have indicated it to them.”

The governor did not establish the duration of this new order, but Flores believes that the employees will be sent to his home.

“The corporation has not yet reported on the guidelines to follow,” he said.

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