Covid-19 lockdowns: California eases pandemic restrictions, NYSE reopens

While lifting the ban on services at places of worship, the California governor limited the number of people who can gather at one time to 25 percent of a building's capacity

California, the most populous US state, took another step on Tuesday toward ending sweeping lockdowns imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic, allowing barber shops and hair salons in most counties to operate for the first time in more than two months.

On Monday, Governor Gavin Newsom lifted orders that banned church services and in-store retail shopping, although with restrictions in place to prevent further outbreaks of Covid-19, the respiratory illness caused by the coronavirus, the Reuters reported.

"(California) is flattening the curve. Expanding testing. And carefully reopening businesses," Newsom said on Twitter. "But we MUST continue to take this seriously."