VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - This past weekend, businesses like barber shops and hair salons were allowed to reopen with guidelines after being shuttered for two months.
"We were wondering how we were going to pay our rent and pay our employees," said Michael Lam, owner of Michael Michele Nail Salon in Virginia Beach.
His salon had been closed for more than eight weeks.
"It's been fun getting back to normal and just leaving the house, and these people here are my friends," said client Ann Cabelle-Pearce.
It's been nearly three months since Cabelle-Pearce was able to enter her favorite spa to get her cuticles cut and her nails filed.
"I feel safe here; it gives me peace of mind," Cabelle-Pearce said.
Summer is around the corner, and that means ladies are in desperate need of primping, polishing and pedicures.
"It is a close-contact business, so yes, it is very risky, but we have to also work," Lam said.
With the doors now open, the scene at this tranquil spa is quite different. Plexiglass partitions, plastic dividers, consent forms, hand-washing, rigorous cleaning and even temperature checks are what clients are now greeted with.
The salon is following the CDC's strict guidelines for safety.
"Before [customers] even come in the door, we call them to tell them to wear a mask and stay in the car until we call them," Lam said. "We have to make sure that no client is sick. It is better safe than sorry."
