Are Massage Therapists Considered Essential Workers?

Good morning. You cannot give a massage over Zoom. And that means California’s decisions to declare many massage therapists as nonessential workers has made their lives especially challenging in the pandemic.

As part of our effort to answer reader questions — we call it Your Lead — we heard from Marion Pernoux, a massage therapist and reiki practitioner, who asked, “How do California officials define essential health providers and why is my professional specialty not included in this category?”

Ms. Pernoux lives in San Francisco, which is one of six counties in California that have not reopened massage establishments. Because of the spike in coronavirus cases, officials in San Francisco pushed back their original target date for reopening personal care businesses and have not specified a new date.

According to the California Massage Therapy Council, which is tracking openings around the state, other counties including Los Angeles, San Bernardino, San Luis Obispo and San Diego are allowing outdoor massages only. Humboldt, Mariposa and Inyo counties are allowing massages as normal.