Nail & beauty salons in England can reopen on 2 December

Lockdown restrictions will be lifted from 2 December and nail and beauty salons can reopen revealed prime minister, Boris Johnson, in a statement to parliament today (23 November). 

Broadcasting from self-isolation, he revealed the Covid-19 ‘Winter Plan’, which sees businesses reopen from 2 December. The tier system will be reinstated, in which rules will be tougher and restrictions tighter.

In an afternoon meeting with the Department for Business, Energy & Industry Strategy on 23 November, Millie Kendall MBE of the British Beauty Council was informed that the reopening in England on 2 December includes all personal care including mobile and home salons.
This is in response to many thinking that they would have to wait until 3 December to resume business.

Johnson commented: “For the first time since this wretched virus took hold, we can see a break in this pandemic, and several advances should make the concept of a future Covid lockdown redundant.

“I am conscious that no other PM has asked so much of the British people, and just as our country has responded to every previous trial, it has responded to this and I am truly grateful. But we are not there yet. The ‘Winter Plan’ is designed to carry us safely to spring.

“The national restrictions in England will end on 2 December and will not be renewed. From Wednesday 2nd, people will be able to leave their home for any purpose and meet up with others – subject to the rule of six.

“Shops and the wider leisure sector can reopen – but without sensible precautions, we risk a winter or New Year surge.”

“We will revert to a regional tiered approach, applying the toughest measures where Covid is most prevalent. The previous tiers did cut the R number but didn’t quite reduce it to below 1, so tiers need to be made tougher.

“Tiers will now be a uniform set of rules and, later this week, we will announce which areas will fall into which tier based on analysis of cases in all age groups and the rate in which cases are rising and falling.”

These tiers are designed to reduce and keep R below 1 and therefore allow areas to move down the tiers, unlike the previous tiers which mostly slowed the increase, resulting in an epidemic that kept growing.

The government is due to publish the indicators which will help determine the tier each area will go into on 2 December and how areas move between tiers thereafter.

The government will analyse the latest data and announce later this week the tiers each area will enter. Given the need to drive down prevalence further, more areas will go into the higher tiers.

“We all want some kind of Christmas but it will be different this year. We need it and deserve it but we don’t want to throw caution to the wind and allow the virus to flare up again, so to allow families to come together while minimising the risks, we are working on special time limited Christmas dispensation, reflecting the ties of kinship across our islands..

“Two scientific breakthroughs will ultimately make these restrictions obsolete. As soon as a vaccine is approved, we will dispense it as quickly as possible.”

“A major community testing programme will roll out in all Tier 3 authorities in England with a six week surge of testing. If it works, we should be able to offer those who test negative the prospect of fewer restrictions, for example meeting up in other places with those who have also tested negative.

“There is a long road to spring but we have turned a corner and the escape route is in sight.”

The prime minister is scheduled to lead a news briefing remotely from 7pm this evening (23 November) following this afternoon’s address.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE GOVERNMENT’S WINTER PLAN DOCUMENT IN FULL.