Gov. Greg Abbott to allow Texas hair salons and pools to reopen Friday and gyms to open May 18

BY PATRICK SVITEK, The Texas Tribune, texastribune.org

The governor had initially eyed May 18 as the next date to announce further business re-openings, but he faced growing pressure in recent days from some in his own party to move more quickly.

Gov. Greg Abbott will allow hair salons and pools in Texas to reopen Friday and gyms on May 18, moving more quickly than expected to further restart the Texas economy during the coronavirus pandemic.

The businesses will be required to follow certain rules, however, as the state continues to grapple with the novel coronavirus. For example, hairstylists will only be able to work with one customer at a time, while gyms can only reopen at 25% capacity, and their showers and locker rooms should remain closed.

Abbott announced the upcoming re-openings during a news conference Tuesday at the state Capitol in Austin, four days after he let stores, restaurants, movie theaters and malls reopen at 25% capacity. He had initially eyed May 18 as the earliest date to start further re-openings, but in recent days he has faced growing pressure from some in his own party to move more quickly.

Even as Abbott rolled out the additional re-openings, he braced Texans for “flare-ups in certain regions” and said the state has assembled “surge response teams” to dispatch to such problem areas.

This story has been edited for length.