As hundreds of businesses prepare to reopen their doors on Friday, Newmarket's Rebel Rouge Hair Salon owner Roy Jannetta is still waiting for his opportunity.
The province announced it would move to step one of its COVID-19 reopening plan June 11, three days ahead of schedule. Most retail stores will be able to open at a limited capacity, and restaurants can serve people outdoors, four people per table.
But personal care services will remain shuttered, with the province keeping them in step two of its plan. With each step scheduled to be at least 21 days, Jannetta cannot open until July 2.
“To me, all the stuff is in place for us to open safely,” Jannetta said. “We’re still closed. And for a hair salon to be closed seven months out of a year, that’s tough.”
Both Newmarket and York Region have passed resolutions urging the province to loosen some restrictions to allow early reopenings.
READ MORE: Newmarket calls on province to reopen patio dining, personal service, shopping
The Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses is also pushing for gyms and personal care services to be included in this weekend's reopening, stating the provincial plan is too slow.
Today, York Region politicians passed another resolution asking the province to reopen personal care services and indoor gyms.
Medical officer of health Dr. Karim Kurji told council the province should be safe to accelerate its reopening plan. He said restauraunts, personal care services and gyms have not been significant areas of concern for COVID-19 spread.
"We have always had excellent case and contact management and good outbreak control," Kurji said. "I would argue that the province considers reopening our businesses sooner. The reality on the ground has changed."
The rising Delta COVID-19 variant has caused some concern with the reopening. But Kurji said he does not feel it is a major issue given the progress of vaccinations.
The province did amend step one of its reopening plan to allow indoor religious, wedding and funeral services at 15 per cent capacity. To reach step two, the government said at least 70 per cent of adults must have received one COVID-19 vaccination dose and 20 per cent must have received two doses.
“While we have reached the point where we can safely move into step one, now is not the time to get complacent,” said Dr. David Williams, chief medical officer of health, said June 7.
Although gyms remain closed until step three of the reopening plan, they can start holding outdoor classes on Friday. But CrossFit Newmarket Central co-owner Ryan Abush said the government is mistaken in continuing to keep gyms closed, with no transmissions in his gym and members feeling safe.
He added outdoor classes are limited by the weather and there are safety concerns given the summer heat.
“We have more protocols than I would say any store you are allowed to go into,” Abush said, citing contact tracing and spacing. "We’ve lost a substantial amount of our membership base with the opening and closing and we haven't been able to bring people back."
F45 Training Newmarket owner Teresa Smith also said running outdoor fitness classes is challenging. She said although it is a chance to bring their community together again, the limited opportunities to open have made her business struggle.
“We are riding on the hope that people do come back to the fitness industry and they do come back to the studio," Smith said. "We feel in the fitness industry we've been unfairly targeted throughout this pandemic."
Rose Piccoli, Hair Dynasty owner, is also eager to reopen. She said her salon can put in place enough precautions to operate safely.
“It’s very frustrating to see other businesses open when we’re fairly safe,” Piccoli said.
She said customers have thankfully remained loyal and used their curbside pickup services for products. She added she understands the province is being cautious with COVID-19 numbers, but she feels ready.
“We’re all ready to go, and it’s been hard for small businesses that are being cautious, more so than big box scores were,” Piccoli said. “We’re just anxious to get going like everybody else.”
Jannetta said the closures brought some financial hardship for his business.
“I’d start tomorrow if I could,” he said. “We just want things back to normal.”
