It has been one week since a number of hair salons chose to reopen their doors.

Following closures back in March due to COVID-19, the Alberta government announced that hair salons and barbers were able to reopen on May 14 as part of Stage 1 of the provincial relaunch strategy.

Some salon owners felt this was too soon and decided to hold off on reopening while others were on board and ready to serve their clients again.

Blunt Hair Studio in Okotoks made the decision to reopen on May 15 with new measures in place in accordance to Alberta Health Services' guidelines to protect clients and stylists.

Michelle Morrison, Owner of Blunt Hair Studio, says at first there was uncertainty when the announcement came out that hair salons were included in Stage 1 of the relaunch, but that changed as more information was released.

"I do like to follow our government's lead. I think we have a fairly fair and reasonable government so I felt comfortable going back especially once they released the guidelines for us. At first it was a little bit confusing because we didn't have any guidelines to go by or anything like that but once they released those it was really good and we were very happy to be back in the salon working again."

Other businesses and facilities included in Stage 1 of the relaunch are retail businesses, farmer's market vendors, museums and art galleries, places of worship and funeral services under specific guidance, daycares and daycamps with occupancy limits, and cafes, restaurants, pubs and bars for table service at 50 per cent capacity.

Blunt now has just three stylists working at a time with no double bookings to minimize the amount of people in the salon at one time. All staff and clients must wear face masks and try to maintain physical distancing where possible. Plexiglas dividers are also in place along with stringent sanitization measures for tools and other surfaces.

Morrison says clients have been receptive to these changes.

"We have a pretty rigorous sanitization schedule that we follow and it really does bring ease to our clients. Even though some of them have questions on if they need to wear a mask and some of them maybe don't want to, they appreciate that we are all wearing masks and following the guidelines, so, overall our clients have been really happy to follow our guidelines as well."

She adds she is grateful for an understanding team during this uncertain time who have been willing to make a number of changes.

No date has been set for Stage 2 of the relaunch which the provincial government has stated could see the potential opening of K-12 schools and libraries with restrictions, more surgeries scheduled, and services returning like acupuncture, massage therapy, and other salon and spa services.

For more information of the Alberta government's relaunch strategy click here.

 

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