The Governor has released Executive Order 202.81. Please find the Executive Order here.
Through January 10, 2021, the Executive Order makes the following modifications and continuations of previous directives as it relates to Massage Therapy:
Personal care services, including massage therapy and spas, located in a designated “orange zone” may operate subject to strict adherence to Department of Health guidance, effective December 14, 2020.
Massage Therapists seeing customers in an “orange zone” must receive diagnostic testing for COVID-19 on a weekly basis for the duration of time that the business remains within an “orange zone.” Testing is not required for massage therapists operating in a “yellow zone.”
No massage therapist may provide services at a reopened business without first obtaining a negative COVID-19 test result within the preceding 7 days of providing such service.
If a region enters a “red zone”, massage therapy is still considered an essential health care operation under Executive Order 202.68 which can be found here. “Medically necessary massage” may still be performed in a region that is located in a “red zone.” However, spas and other personal care services are specifically instructed to reduce their workforce capacity by 100% in a “red zone.”
According to contact tracing data collected between September to November, personal care services contribute only 0.14% of the Covid-19 spread. All personal care services are subject to following the previously issued Guidance for Personal Care Industrieshere.
The Governor’s Office is regularly evaluating data statewide and making determinations for yellow or orange zones in the NY Cluster Initiative. Find out what zone you are located in here. Be sure to use the address where your services are rendered.
If you are located in a zone that requires weekly testing, you can check with your local county health department for asymptomatic testing sites or find a testing site here.
Your Government Relations team will continue to update you as any new guidance is released.
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