In an effort to maintain social distancing, more businesses in New York and neighboring states will be closing down during the COVID-19 quarantine.
Effective March 21 at 8 p.m., all barbershops, hair salons, tattoo or piercing parlors, nail salons, hair removal services, and related personal care services will be closed to members of the public. This shutdown will also take effect in New Jersey, Connecticut and Pennsylvania.
“We know how the novel coronavirus spreads, and we are making data-driven decisions as the situation evolves to continue to reduce density and slow the spread of the virus,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “We remain in constant communication with our neighboring states to ensure we are establishing a set of uniform rules and regulations for the entire region. These temporary closures are not going to be easy, but they are necessary to protecting the health and safety of New Yorkers and all Americans.”
“Continuing to work collaboratively and quickly throughout this evolving public health emergency, we have made a very difficult decision to direct the closure of establishments that could impact public health—such as barbers, nail and hair salons,” said Governor Lamont. “Continuing to confront these critical decisions as a region and across our borders will protect all of our state’s residents.”
On March 19, Governor Cuomo, along with New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf, announced that their states would be closing indoor portions of retail shopping malls, as well as amusement parks and bowling alleys would close starting at 8 p.m. that evening. Earlier in the week, the Governors announced limits on crowd capacity for social and recreational gatherings to 50 people.
“The fact remains that social distancing is paramount to our broader strategy to slow the spread of COVID-19 and protect the most vulnerable members of our community,” said Governor Murphy. “While we understand the challenge these restrictions pose to our region’s small businesses, we are actively working with the federal government to ensure that financial relief is made available to our business owners and workforce as quickly as possible.”
In more efforts for social distancing, the governors closed down restaurants and bars, limiting them to take-out and pick-up services. Movie theaters, gyms and casinos were also temporarily closed.
“Pennsylvania continues to work with our neighboring states to implement mitigation strategies that will fight the spread of COVID-19 in our region,” said Governor Wolf. “All Pennsylvanians are greatly appreciative of the aggressive approach our neighbors our taking, which will help all of our residents as we address this public health crisis.”
