Gov. Ned Lamont said Thursday he will close all hair and nail salons, and barber shops statewide. It’s the latest set of businesses forced to close in an effort to slow the spread of the new coronavirus.
In a tweet he wrote:
" Later today, I will issue an executive order directing the closure of establishments like nail salons, barber shops, and hair salons. I will have more information later. These are difficult decisions that are all meant to put public health first."
His decision follows a local order from Richard Matheny, director of health for the Quinnipiack Valley Health District. He ordered the businesses to close Wednesday night.
“I decided the longer we wait the more people could potentially be exposed,” said Matheny. “I don’t think you can do cosmetology, hairdressing, barbering, tattooing from six feet away.”
Thursday afternoon across North Haven, massage therapy centers were closed, nail salons had empty chairs. The reception desk at a hair salon had no one to greet customers.
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“All we really did was invoke our regulation which says if there’s a serious outbreak of disease we have the ability to suspend those licenses," Matheny explained.
He pulled all licenses in Hamden, North Haven, Woodbridge and Bethany.
“It just makes common sense if nothing else to restrict that.”
At Lovecraft Tattoos in Hamden a sign on their it reads:
“We believe that working in such close proximity puts us at risk of contracting and spreading the virus. Getting a tattoo can add an extra level of strain on the immune system which, at this time, we need to be at peak performance.”
In New Haven, Skull and Combs owner Jason Bunce decided to close his doors Tuesday evening and shared the same perspective.
“The salon we do probably about a thousand people a month and that just opens us to all types of exposure from anything.”
