Amid anxiety, Georgia lets close-contact businesses reopen

SAVANNAH, Ga. (AP) — Some salons, gyms and other close-contact services in Georgia prepared to open Friday as the Republican governor eased a month-long shutdown amid experts' warnings of a potential new surge in coronavirus infections and a potent objection from President Donald Trump.

With deaths and infections still rising in Georgia, many business owners planned to remain closed in spite of Gov. Brian Kemp's assurance that hospital visits and new cases have leveled off enough for barbers, tattoo artists, massage therapists and personal trainers to return to work with restrictions.

David Huynh had 60 clients booked for appointments Friday at his nail salon in Savannah. He said that's less than half the customers he would normally see. But he's also starting back with fewer nail technicians to allow for empty work stations between them.

Huynh's business, Envy Nail Bar, has been closed since March 26. But the losses extend beyond just the month he's been shut down.

“We lost graduations, proms and weddings,” Huynh said. "Already I see stores closing down permanently. ... A lot of people don’t realize, if the nation stays shut down any longer, there will be severe consequences.”

Kemp's order allowing certain businesses to reopen Friday requires precautions such as screening customers for potential symptoms, providing staff with masks and other protective gear as available and doing frequent cleaning.

The governor has said it's imperative to begin easing his state's economic suffering. The Georgia Department of Labor announced Thursday that 1.1 million workers — about one-fifth of the state's workforce — filed for unemployment in the five weeks since the crisis started.

Public health experts have warned that reopening too quickly could trigger a...