Hair salons, restaurants and pubs open Monday
THE First Minister is set to announce the latest easing of lockdown restrictions today – with pubs and hairdressers allowed to reopen on Monday, and cinemas and campsites set to follow by the end of the month.
Mr Drakeford will use his press conference in Cardiff to set out the latest three-week package of measures which could see a lifting of restrictions for Wales’ tourism, hospitality, visitor and leisure industries.
From this Monday, cafés, pubs and restaurants will be allowed to reopen with outdoor-only service – while hairdressers, mobile hairdressers, and barbers will be able to resume by appointment only.
Outdoor cinemas will also be allowed to reopen, as will indoor visitor attractions - with the exception of underground attractions like coal museums.
While widely trailed previously, the move was conditional on the rate of coronavirus infections remaining relatively low.
Playground and community centres are set to reopen from July 20, ahead of the summer holidays, Mr Drakeford will reveal.
And the wider beauty industry can prepare to re-open from July 27, depending on the prevalence of Covid-19 in Wales at that time.
It would mean that nail salons and tattoo parlours, as well as indoor cinemas and camping sites, could be reopened on that date.
Museums, galleries, archives, and shared tourist facilities are also expected to be considered for that date.
A Welsh Government spokesman said: “The measures will be phased in every Monday over the next three weeks and will see large parts of Wales’ visitor, hospitality, leisure and tourism industries start to re-open.”
Three weeks ago the International Relations Minister Eluned Morgan told bars, restaurants and cafés with outdoor space to prepare to re-open from July 13.
Since then a number of businesses, most notably Brains, have said they will only welcome back customers when they could re-open fully, indoors and out.
Other brewers have said they would struggle to stock pubs at short notice given the time it takes to brew beer.
Meanwhile hairdressers will operate an appointment-only service with social distancing in place.
First revealing the plans three weeks ago, Mr Drakeford said: “Hairdressers should make preparations to resume services by appointment only with all the necessary safeguarding in place.
“We’ll be talking to the representative bodies in those sectors who can’t cut hair at a two-metre distance so there will have to be some careful safety precautions put in place.”
It marks the latest easing of restrictions, with some businesses reopening for the first time since lockdown was imposed on the nation at the end of March in a bid to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.
AS HAIRDRESSERS and barbers prepare to reopen their doors again next week, for other businesses in the beauty industry it’s still an uncertain time.
While First Minister Mark Drakeford is today expected to tell beauty firms to prepare for a possible reopening date of July 27, subject to continued improvments in the fight with Covid-19, the lockdown has left many businesses with significant challenges to overcome.
Firms across Wales have been working hard to ensure all the correct measures are put in place for when the big day arrives and they are able to treat clients again.
While many customers may be longing to have their nails done, get a pedicure, have their eyebrows shaped or may even be crying out for a back massage after all the working from home, the reality behind the scenes is that some of the business owners are desperately doing all they can to try to keep their livelihoods afloat.
One person who is desperate to see her business open its doors again is Charlotte McNeil.
Charlotte, 38, is the owner of Cardiff Beauty Clinic and has been running the business for four years.
This week she has spoken of her disappointment after saying she was initially under the impression the business would be able to operate at the same time hairdressers are expected to reopen.
Sadly for her, and many other businesses, this is not the case.
Charlotte said: “When Mark Drakeford last spoke he said beauty and hair should prepare for three weeks to open so we put all the measures in place to make sure.
“We wear personal protective equipment (PPE) anyway, but we put extra measures in place than we had before.”
Last month, it was confirmed that the Welsh Government’s latest review – taking place before a formal announcement of any changes today – would confirm whether hair and beauty services could resume on an appointment-only basis from Monday, July 13.
“We have been put in the same category as strip clubs and casinos as to close contact”, Charlotte added.
Cardiff Beauty Clinic offers everything from aesthetic treatments to nail services and waxing.
Charlotte said one of the things the team really pride themselves on is how they offer everything under one roof.
Since the start of lockdown, the team have also won two awards – one celebrating their skill in permanent make-up and the other for the team’s standard of non-surgical aesthetics.
But, sadly, the reality of the situation means the past few weeks have been less than celebratory.
Charlotte said: “We are registered as a private hospital so we are really proud of that.
“It has been a lot of hard work. “It has been very stressful.
“We have had to take out a loan to try and keep the business afloat.
“We were supposed to get a grant – we were supposed to be eligible for a £25,000 grant but we didn’t get it.
“We have had to borrow money from family.
“We are a group of eight women and we are doing our best to maintain our business.
“If we don’t open by August it’s likely we will have to make people redundant.”
In relation to the support from the industry itself, Charlotte said that has been “brilliant”.
In south Wales, she said, everyone has rallied together to support each other, which has been lovely for her and her staff to see.
But, when similar businesses in her industry have been given dates to aspire to, Charlotte can’t help but feel businesses like hers have been left behind.
She felt so strongly about it that she, and her team, published a live video on Facebook earlier this week to show just how things could operate safely and accordingly.
She explained: “I feel that it’s the handling of lockdown – it has been handled by men for men.