Some business advocates are frustrated that tattoo parlors, bars, and spas will not be allowed to open for business Friday, but Louisiana Department of Health Assistant Secretary Alex Billioux says it’s just not safe to open those sectors yet, and cited White House guidelines recommending places like bars remain closed.
“It was not an arbitrary decision, it was done with internal public health experts, with representatives across government and with the Governor’s Resilient Louisiana task force representing sectors across the state,” says Billioux.
Billioux says they have three criteria for when, and how businesses can open: The number of potential COVID contacts in a facility, how long you would have contact with a COVID case, and whether the business model could be adapted to limit contact.
“There is a difference in the risk in the spread of COVID-19 where maybe one person is coming to a counter at a time, and when many people are huddled together,” says Billioux.
Billioux says the Phase One reopening still calls for extensive social distancing and only focuses on businesses deemed “low risk” and adds some establishments, like restaurants, lend themselves well to adapting to social distancing guidelines, and some business models just could not make it work.
“What personal protective equipment, what physical barriers, what other barriers or engineering feats can we do to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission in that setting?” says Billioux.