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Fact check: Some — not all — hair salons in California will open in protest on Aug. 17

The claim: All hair salons in California will open on Aug. 17 in protest of coronavirus restrictions

Multiple posts claim that all hair salons in the state of California will open on Aug. 17 in spite of statewide restrictions handed down by Gov. Gavin Newsom to combat the coronavirus pandemic.

"All Hair salons in California are opening up Aug 17 in protest against Newsom!" one post reads. "Be sure to share the heck out of this!!!!"

Salons that closed in March were allowed to reopen in May, only to be closed again in July as the state's COVID-19 cases soared, according to The Los Angeles Times.

Salons and barbershops in counties that are on the state's coronavirus monitoring list are permitted to operate outdoors-only.

Southern California hairstylist sets up illegal salon in her garage.
Southern California hairstylist sets up illegal salon in her garage.

Hundreds of hair salons will open in protest on Aug. 17

Salons and barbershops plan to open for indoor services on Aug. 17 in protest of public health restrictions as part of an initiative called Open Safe California, according to Fox 5 in San Diego.

Shayana Flick — who owns a salon in San Fransisco and started the initiative — told Sacramento's ABC10 that she believes it's safe to reopen. (Flick said she also operates a salon in Austin, Texas, which has seen 3,060 clients in 10 weeks with zero cases of COVID-19.)

She has coordinated the initiative on Instagram and in a group on Facebook that now has 4,000 members.

More: Fact check: What's true and what's false about coronavirus?

"After seeing post after post of businesses in our industry closing, we realized if we want to save our livelihood, we have to do this together," the group's description reads. "Having one business try to take this on isn't the way to go about it, what we need is thousands."

Flick also told ABC10 that she is setting up a GoFundMe to help salons that are fined for participating, and created a waiver for participating salons that requires them to commit to practices like mask-wearing.

Nail salon workers hold signs during a protest in Westminster, Calif., on June 8 to demand Gov. Gavin Newsom lift COVID-19 restrictions on nail salons.
Nail salon workers hold signs during a protest in Westminster, Calif., on June 8 to demand Gov. Gavin Newsom lift COVID-19 restrictions on nail salons.

Not all hair salons will participate in the protest

Though numerous salon owners have said they plan to open, not all hair salons are on board with the initiative.

For example, Kim and Larry Cromwell — the owners of Maribou Salons in Folsom, California — told ABC10 that they will not open Aug. 17, despite the pandemic being "one of the hardest times" of their lives.

"We personally don't feel great about it. It wouldn't match what we stand for in our brand, but I wouldn't blame someone for one second for doing it," they said.

More: The benefits of clear face masks—and where to buy them

Our rating: Partly false

Based on our research, the claim that all hair salons in California will open on Aug. 17 is PARTLY FALSE. Though some salons will open in protest, other salon owners have said they will continue to obey restrictions on indoor services.

Our fact-check sources:

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Fact check: Some California salons to open Aug. 17 in protest