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Tattoo Shops Choose To Reopen After Stanislaus County Lifts Local Stay-At-Home Order

MODESTO (CBS13) — Stanislaus County chose to remove their local stay-at-home order and leave it up to the state's order on Tuesday, saying the two were very similar.

The county is waiting for the state to decide their fate, hoping to move further into stage 2 of California's reopening plan. The county has to meet several guidelines to qualify for reopening, but still has a major outbreak at a Turlock nursing home and more than two dozen people who got sick after attending a large funeral in the area.

Modesto tattoo shop Emerald Tattoo opened their doors again on Wednesday with modifications. Signs posted outside of the door ask for people to wear masks, and the shop's owner, Josh Hughes, said he's health screening people beforehand.

But tattoo shops fall under stage 3 of the state's plan, so they admit they're not following the state's stay-at-home order. Other tattoo shops in the area are planning to do the same.

Hughes said for him, it's a matter of making money to provide for his family at this point.

"Everyone is essential to somebody. Especially if they are their source of income," Hughes said. "Were we going to open today or open never again?"

READ: Placer Retail Poised To Reopen, Some Businesses Playing Catch-Up

Stanislaus County has had a number of businesses reach out asking if they can reopen since they pulled the stay-at-home order locally. But the state's stay-at-home order still stands, and that answer is still no.

Still, Emerald Tattoo and other local tattoo shops like Dying Heart say it's worth it.

"It's a lot of anxiety whether or not I'm going to be able to keep doors open after this pandemic," Rich Ruiz, owner of Dying Heart Tattoo, said.

Hughes said his employees are going the extra mile to stay sanitary and screen customers before working on them.

"All of us are running a risk," Hughes said. "You have families to feed and bills to pay."

Serena Rodriguez, who lives in Modesto, came out to get a tattoo on Wednesday, despite the restrictions, hoping to feel some kind of normalcy again.

"I'll do whatever I have to do so I can go outside and enjoy my summer and my life," Rodriguez said. "Some people can't handle staying in their house for such long periods of time and only going out when it's absolutely necessary."

ALSO: Plumas, Sierra, Sutter, Tuolumne And Yuba Counties Given Green Light To Reopen Quicker

As for enforcement, Stanislaus County said on Tuesday in their evening briefing that county resources won't be used to enforce the state's order.

Deputy Rojyindar Singh, a spokesperson for the county's Office of Emergency Services, said that's not a change from before.

"They don't want to make this a law enforcement issue. They don't want to go and arrest people for violating the order," Singh said. "What we have been doing and what we'll continue to do is enforcement by education."

These Modesto tattoo shops are both hoping not to be inked in history as businesses that couldn't pull through the pains of the pandemic.

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