Paul Bass Photo
Myers at her salon Tuesday: “I’m not going to open” on 20th.
Samantha Myers can’t understand why the governor thinks she can safely reopen her popular hair salon next week.
She’s plenty eager to resume offering her loyal customers hair extensions and her trademark short cuts, the ones that for 25 years have caused New Haveners to remark, “Oh — Samantha cut your hair!”
And she could use the money. Since she shut down at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, some customers have continued paying her for cuts they’re not receiving, to support her. Her relatives have chipped in too. She had savings. She has made some money selling sparkly and custom-designed face masks. (“God gave me a gift —they’re blowing up. I’m all about the bling!”) But she still hasn’t had her unemployment application approved.
She’d also like to welcome back the four cutters who rent space in her Salon 2000 on Whalley Avenue in Westville Village.
When she does open, Myers is ready to keep her salon clean.
But she doesn’t see the point in sacrificing people’s lives to boost her short-term livelihood.
And she can’t figure out why Gov. Ned Lamont has decided that hair salons and barber shops should be included in the first wave of businesses allowed to reopen on May 20.
“I don’t think they thought this out enough. Why are we in phase one?” Myers, a 54-year-old native New Havener who has owned a salon in town for 25 years, said Tuesday.
“I feel like they’re trying to put us out as guinea pigs to see what happens. I’m not going to open yet. I feel like it’s unsafe.”
It’s fine to mandate wearing face masks and setting chairs six feet apart, disinfecting tools and requiring appointments without allowing customers to wait inside. She can follow all those state-mandated rules.
But “we’re still going to be in contact one on one with clients” close up, she noted. The state hasn’t truly figured out how that’s going to be safe, she argued.
Myers agreed with other African-American hair stylists who contested an original version of the reopening order that banned the use of hair dryers. She agreed that she needs hair dryers to perform her work. But again she questioned the wisdom of allowing the reopening in the first place — in which hair dryers will potentially circulate the virus throughout workplaces.
Myers outside her salon.
When she does consider it safe to reopen, furthermore, Myers questioned how business owners like her are supposed to comply with the state’s safety rules to guard against Covid-19 spreading.
For instance: The state is mandating that she buy hand sanitizer and face shields and large quantities of masks. But it’s not giving her money or a supply chain to tap into.
A smarter solution would be to plug more money into unemployment benefits and small-business aid to extend the closings until the pandemic is more under control, she argued. She characterized the reopening plan as a short-sighted way to avoid those costs.
Myers doesn’t worry she’ll lose customers by failing to reopen when others do next week. She’s loyal to her loyal customers: “They know it’s all about safety for me.”
What Lamont Is Thinking
Christine Stuart Photo
Gov. Lamont (right) and Lt. Gov Susan Bysiewicz (center) touring New Britain factory Tuesday.
Myers is not alone in questioning the decision by governors to include barber shops and hair salons in first-phase “essential services” business reopenings.
Even the White House Coronavirus Response Coordinator Deborah Birx has criticized that move out of safety concerns.
Gov. Lamont was asked about Birx’s contradictory opinion at his 4 p.m. daily briefing,
“In this phase we’re close to 20 days in terms of declining metrics,” Lamont said. “It’s on a totally voluntary basis, and we found a good amount of people who wish they could go back by-appointment-only with the strictest of protocols.”
The governor and his economic development chief, David Lehman, also addressed public concerns about the safety of reopening the salons earlier in the day, during a visit to observe PPE delivery at a New Britain warehouse.
“First of all, if you don’t feel ready May 20th, don’t open,” Lamont said.
The governor was asked why his administration decided not to include nail salons in the first wave of business openings but did include hair salons and barber shops.
“One you’re facing each other and the other you’re not,” Lamont said. “That made a big difference.”
Asked why he thought a barber or hair stylist wouldn’t ever stand in front of him during a haircut, he said, “I don’t know.”
“I think the barbers and the salons felt more comfortable doing it this way,” Lamont said.
Lamont said nail salons wanted more time to get the partitions up and people felt “hair was more essential.”
Lamont originally banned the use of hairdryers in the phase-one reopenings. The administration changed that decision Monday evening after blowback from African-American hair stylists. (Read Dan Haar’s column about that here.)
“A determination was made yesterday that we could allow blow dryers as needed,” Lehman said. “The health folks signed off on that.”
He said he thinks they can open salons safely, and “we think hair dryers can be a part of that.”
“The stylists are ultimately going to need to make a determination for a certain treatment or for a certain client do they need to use a hair dryer,” Lehman said.
What Elicker Is Thinking
Tom Breen Photo
Elicker Tuesday at his daily press briefing.
A previous executive order from the governor prevents mayors from taking actions that contradict his pandemic policies. So mayors can’t override his hair salon decision.
New Haven Mayor Justin Elicker said he shares Myers’ concerns, including about how barbers and hair stylists spend the bulk of the day in close contact with customers.
He said his administration is trying to locate enough masks, sanitizers and other protective equipment to help small businesses comply with Lamont’s directives. But the equipment is hard to find.
The mayor was asked if he thinks that New Haven is ready to open on May 20.
“Would I get my hair cut? Would I go shopping?” he responded. “I’m not so sure I would.”
Elicker said that he is most focused on reducing the number of New Haveners who get sick from the novel coronavirus in the short‑, middle‑, and long-terms. That means following the science and data around the virus, he said, and ensuring that New Haveners have adequate access to testing and supplies of personal protective equipment.
“Frankly, I’m not quite sure that the May 20 date, given the guidelines that have been set by the governor, is completely realistic,” he said.
Tom Breen contributed to this article.