Texas daycares and personal care businesses, including tattoo parlors, can reopen Monday, Gov. Greg Abbott announced.
Bars can reopen at limited occupancy on Friday. Summer camps and summer school can reopen at the end of the month.
The governor announced the second phase of business reopening in his plan to boost the Texas economy after closures to stop the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Abbott announced the first round of openings in April before the expiration of the statewide stay-at-home order. As part of his measures, restaurants, malls, retail stores and movie theaters were allowed to reopen at 25% occupancy.
Restaurants can expand to 50% occupancy on Friday.
Bars, wine tasting rooms and craft breweries can reopen at 25% capacity on Friday.
The governor also said that summer camps and summer school can open at the end of the month.
Reopenings will be delayed a week in El Paso, Randall, Potter, Moore, Deaf Smith counties because those areas have become hotspots, the governor said.
Abbott said he wanted to see two weeks of coronavirus testing data before announcing the next measures, but he amended his executive order to allow some businesses, including salons, to reopen sooner.
He said his plans have been “unanimously supported by our team of medical experts.”
“From day one our mission has been to use data and doctors to open texas in a responsible way that contains COVID-19,” Abbott said.
Hair salons, barbershops, tanning salons and nail salons were allowed to open May 8.
Gyms, nonessential manufacturing and office spaces were allowed to reopen at 25% capacity Monday.
The governor’s order requires that all businesses practice social distancing. For gyms, people must wear gloves to work out, and all equipment must be cleaned after each use.
Increased testing
Abbott said the state can average about 25,000 tests a day at about 600 testing facilities across Texas.
Though there has been an increase in the number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19, Abbott said, the positivity rate has been declining. That means that the percentage of people testing positive has gone down.
Abbott reiterated Monday that he expects the number of people diagnosed with the disease to increase because more tests are being completed.
He encourages Texans to continue practicing safe distancing, sanitize their hands and wear masks or facial coverings when possible.
And for the elderly, Abbott said, “the safest strategy for seniors is to continue to stay at home if at all possible.”
Nursing homes are among the hotspots for the disease, including jails and meatpacking plants.
Abbott said all residents and staff at nursing homes are being tested, and surge teams are sent to separate the sick from the healthy at the other hotspots.