Salons, barbershops watch Georgia for guidance on reopening

Hair salons and barbershops will not be part of the first phase of reopening Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis said Thursday. At Colour Bar Salon in Tampa, the news came as a tough blow after weeks without customers and income.

"It’s been difficult emotionally and financially,” said Dyanna Monzo, a hairstylist at the Colour Bar Salon. "I feel like everyone in the hair salon industry, when we left our jobs, we had to grieve over losing our clients, and losing our jobs, which was a lot to take on.”

Hairstylists are now looking to Florida's neighbor to the north, Georgia, to see how the salon industry handles to reopening in the midst of the pandemic. 

PREVIOUS: Salon, gym owners wonder what's next after Florida's plan to reopen left them out

“It gave me anxiety because there are a lot of rules and regulations," Monzo said. “I felt like you’re going to be more in a hospital environment instead of the fun salon environment."

Clients would be able to see and feel the change.

"It’s gloves, masks, face shields, it’s going to be disposable capes, we’ll be required to wear smocks, we’ll have to take everything off after every client, we’re going to be minimizing how many services we can do per day," said David L. Hensley, a hairstylist at Salon Lofts.

INFO: Frequently asked questions about phase one of the plan to reopen Florida

So far, the state of Florida has not set any rules or regulations on what needs to happen if salons and barbershops want to reopen.

Hairstylists who spoke to FOX 13 said they're paying close attention to what Georgia does so they can be ready in case Florida decides to enact similar rules.

If you feel sick:

The Florida Department of Health has opened a COVID-19 Call Center at 1-866-779-6121. Agents will answer questions around the clock. Questions may also be emailed to covid-19@flhealth.gov. Email responses will be sent during call center hours.

LINK: Florida's COVID-19 website

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