Salons reopen as normality edges closer
Beauty treatments are back – along with gyms, swimming and sports – in latest easing of restrictions
CORONAVIRUS restrictions were significantly eased last night as the Culture Secretary announced a relaxation of curbs on sports and leisure.
Gyms, swimming pools, leisure centres, beauty salons and outdoor arts venues in England are all to reopen as Oliver Dowden delivered “the news millions across the country have been waiting for”.
Amateur team sports, including cricket, will resume from tomorrow, with sports fans allowed to attend community matches for the first time in months. Outdoor pools and open-air theatres will also open on Saturday.
Nail bars, beauty salons, tattoo parlours and other “close contact” personal services will be open from Monday, with indoor sports venues including gyms, pools and courts following on July 25.
It means that almost every business closed during lockdown will now be open. Indoor theatres and concert halls, nightclubs, casinos, soft play areas and sports stadiums are among the only venues that remain closed.
There was a chink of light for theatres as Mr Dowden said the Government would commence trials of indoor performances with limited audiences.
Separately, Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, announced that care home residents would be allowed visitors “very soon”, with full details to follow in “the next few days”.
Mr Dowden said everyone should now “play their part” in getting the economy back on its feet by “making the most of this summer”.
He said: “We all stayed at home to protect the NHS and save lives – now the British public has a new part to play. It’s time to eat out to help out, to enjoy the arts to help out and to work out to help out. It’s over to all of you to help the country recover safely.”
Mr Dowden said the Government had been able to press ahead with the latest easements because the opening of pubs, restaurants and other venues last weekend had not caused a rise in coronavirus infections.
However, all of the new easements come with significant conditions attached. Beauty salons will not be able to provide any facial treatments, meaning eyebrow and eyelash treatments, microblading, dermarolling, make-up application and a whole range of other services will remain banned for now. Beard trimming will be allowed, but “intricate” shaping of moustaches will still be forbidden.
All venues will have restrictions on how many people can be inside them at any one time, with gyms having to allow 100 square feet per person. Anyone using a gym or leisure centre will be encouraged to get changed at home and go home to shower afterwards, and people playing grassroots sports will be expected to turn up to matches and training already wearing their kit.
Even outdoor concerts, plays and operas will be subject to social distancing measures. Mr Dowden said it would mean that outdoor opera could resume at Glyndebourne, though this year’s summer festival has already been cancelled. Mr Dowden said: “I’m really urging people to get out there and to play their part: buy the tickets for outdoor plays and musical recitals, get to your local gallery and support your local businesses.”
The decision to allow pools and other sports facilities to reopen follows a recent visit by officials led by Professor
Jonathan Van-tam, the deputy chief medical officer for England, to a number of venues to observe their preparations for reopening safely.
Duncan Bannatyne, owner of the health club and spa firm Bannatyne Group and former star of BBC’S Dragon’s Den, said he was “gratified” to find in discussions with ministers “that they understood that the majority of health clubs could reopen safely and that it was essential to do so”.
Adam Mooney, founder of The Feel Good Group, which runs 90 tanning salons across the UK, said that more than 90 per cent of his staff were women, mostly in the 18 to 25 age group, the demographic which has
‘We all stayed at home to protect the NHS … now the British public has a new part to play’
been worst-hit financially by the pandemic. He said: “They are very keen to get back to work.”
While amateur cricket can resume from tomorrow, because its governing body has already agreed Covid-secure guidelines with the Government, other sports such as football, rugby and hockey must submit an action plan that satisfies ministers and public health officials in their Covid safety measures.
Among the requirements will be keeping details of players to enable rapid tracing and testing if any of them falls ill, players arriving at venues already changed into their kit.
Supporters will be allowed to attend community fixtures in small numbers as long as they are in groups of no more than two households or no more than six people from multiple households.
Mass gatherings such as park runs and marathons remain banned.
BEAUTY salons and spas can reopen from Monday, but will not be allowed to provide facial treatments under a series of new government restrictions to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
They will be followed towards the end of the month by indoor gyms, leisure centres and pools, which will welcome back members on July 25 for the first time since they were ordered to close four months ago.
Gyms will be asked to limit capacity to allow 100 square foot per person, reduce class sizes and require members to book slots in advance.
Last night, Oliver Dowden, the Culture Secretary, announced that nail bars, tanning salons and tattoo parlours will be permitted to reopen at the start of next week.
Under the latest relaxations, outdoor pools, amateur cricket, open-air theatres, and opera, dance and music venues will be given the green light to restart from tomorrow.
Other grassroots sports, such as football and rugby, will also begin a phased return once ministers have signed off “action plans” designed to ensure that adequate safety measures are in place.
However, many of the venues and businesses that are permitted to reopen will have new limits placed on their activities. Under the restrictions, beauty salons and spas will be banned from “high risk” services – meaning face waxing and threading, eyelash and eye- brow treatments, make-up application and facial treatments will still be out of bounds.
Where social distancing cannot be maintained, stylists and beauticians will be required to wear visors, screens and barriers will be placed between clients, cleaning of surfaces will increase and appointments will be pre-booked.
Body treatments such as manicures, pedicures and bikini waxing are permitted. Beard trimming will be allowed, but should be limited to “simple beard trims, thinning or removing bulk or length which can be done using clippers or scissors”, and “intricate” shaping or shaving of areas such as moustaches should not be carried out.
Stylists or barbers should cut facial hair from the side or by circling the client to avoid the face-to-face “zone”.
Players taking part in team sports will be encouraged to avoid using public transport and arrive for matches already changed and warmed up, while also avoiding unnecessary contact such as handshakes or huddles.
They should shower at home and limit the use of changing rooms, the guidance says. Balls and other items that are passed regularly among players should be cleaned regularly. Spectators will be allowed to attend in small numbers providing they are in groups of no more than two households.
Clubhouses and bars can open as long as they follow government hospitality guidelines.
In gyms, equipment such as treadmills and cross trainers will be spaced out, with members required to wipe down equipment between each use. Sessions will need to be booked in advance and capacity will be limited.
Gyms will be required to place a cap on numbers: one person will be allowed in for every 100 square foot of space. Mr Dowden confirmed that face masks would not be mandatory.
Swimming pools will also operate caps on the number of people permitted, while indoor dance studios will be required to put down floor markings to prevent close contact between users.
Outdoor performances resuming this weekend will only be able to take place with small audiences, spaced out according to social distancing rules.
While no time frame has been announced yet for the resumption of performing arts indoors, the Government last night set out the first glimpses of how they will operate.
Under the guidance, performers, conductors and musicians will be required to observe social distancing wherever possible, with singing and playing of brass and wind instruments in front of audiences limited only to professionals. Mr Dowden has commissioned a study on the risks associated with singing and playing brass.
This will be carried out with Public Health England, professionals from the Royal Opera House and the BBC, as well as scientists.