This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California Gov. Gavin Newsom said Tuesday that barbershops and hair salons can reopen immediately in counties that have been cleared to move faster on lifting coronavirus restrictions.

The governor’s announcement is part of an ongoing relaxation of orders intended to help prevent spread of COVID-19.

The state’s guidance says customers and workers in barbershops and salons must wear face coverings during hair-cutting and other close-contact services.

Forty-seven of California’s 58 counties have been granted variances to state orders that allow them to move faster on reopening.

Los Angeles County and San Francisco Bay Area counties are not among them.

In expanding reopening to barbershops and hair salons, Newsom cited the extent of testing capability and stability in the rate of positive cases.

But after a long holiday weekend that saw many people out and about, the governor urged a sober recognition that the pandemic is not over and to continue measures such as social distancing and covering faces.

“We still have a long way of going to get where we need to be, which is immunity and a vaccine,” he said.

For most people, the new coronavirus causes mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough that clear up in two to three weeks. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia, and death.