Coronavirus: Salons reopen in San Mateo County, some employees stay home

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ByAmy Hollyfield KGO logo
Saturday, June 20, 2020
Coronavirus: Salons reopen in San Mateo County, some employees stay home
Nail salons and tattoo parlors in San Mateo County are now allowed to reopen.

SAN MATEO COUNTY, Calif. (KGO) -- Nail salons and tattoo parlors in San Mateo County are now allowed to reopen.

Soleil Luna Nail Spa in San Mateo opened early today to get started.

"I'm thrilled that we are able to open today," said owner Linda Pham.

Pham says demand is high but she is handling it alone. Her 13 technicians told her they are not ready to come in yet. This as she has spent $15,000 to 18,000 on safety precautions.

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"It was definitely worth it," she said. "I am able to interact with my clients. They can feel safe here. Myself as well as my technicians can also feel safe being in an environment where we are all well protected."

She has partitions between the technician and the client and in between each pedicure and nail station. Temperatures are taken, hand sanitizer distributed and masks are worn.

It's why Mary Eusevio drove to the San Mateo salon from Pacifica and was the first client Friday morning.

"I heard this place had the barriers up and the protocols in place for COVID-19. I wanted to be safe," Eusevio said.

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Linda Pham says being closed for so long was stressful. And now long hours await her as she tries to meet the demand without her usual staff. She says she is booked through Monday.

"We have a lot of support from the community," Pham said. "We have a lot of people requesting on Yelp, coming to the door, waiting for us to open, calling and texting, social media... they're very excited and very appreciative that we even went this extra step to protect them."

San Mateo County's health officer says the success of stopping the spread of the virus is now in the hands of the residents.

As the county continues to reopen he says people will need to follow the safety guidelines to slow down the spread of COVID-19.

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