Beauty salon hopes dashed as they have to stay closed for longer

By

Sandra Halliday

Published
Jun 23, 2020

Beauty salons, nail bars and spas in England won’t be allowed to open in early July, despite hopes that they’d be included on the list of businesses allowed to resume. The news comes as the UK government continues to dismantle its lockdown regulations.

July 4 will see hairdressers, pubs, bars, cafes and restaurants able to reopen their doors, an important step for attracting shoppers back to high streets, retail parks and shopping centres.

Those businesses are allowed to reopen as the previous strict 2 metre social distancing rule is relaxed, although it hasn’t been done away with altogether.

In fact, people are still being told they should stay 2 metres apart where feasible but a “one metre plus” option has been introduced so they can get closer, as long as they’re wearing face coverings or not sitting face to face. 

While it could make it easier for clothing stores to run their operations, it means beauty therapists, nail technicians, tattoo artists and more who have to get even closer than one metre in order to carry out their roles, will have to wait a bit longer to resume their trades. Exhibition and conference centres will also remain closed, as will gyms.

And the original 2 metre rule will continue to be enforced in Scotland and Wales where the devolved governments are in control of the coronavirus response. 

The latest easing of restrictions is still unpopular with some observers as they say that with the UK still seeing over 1,000 new coronavirus infections a day, it could be moving too fast to end the lockdown.