KANSAS CITY, Kan. — At least one owner of a hair salon in Wyandotte County said she had to move her business temporarily because the county continues to keep hair and nail salons closed.
"It's hurtful first of all, financially. It's devastating because you can't work and our bills continue to come in and we have to pay them," said Lillie Trower, who owns Hairmasters in Turner in Wyandotte County.
She is now doing hair in Johnson County because Wyandotte County has not allowed those businesses to reopen. Trower needs to pay bills and get back to work, but she can't do that at her salon in Kansas City, Kansas.
"It's very sad. You can't go down there and work," Trower said. "I have done some remodeling since before. I had new flooring put in, it's just nice and clean, ready to go to work."
41 Action News spoke with Unified Government Public Health Department officials on Monday. They said nail and hair salons will reopen when the county goes into the "yellow zone." Right now, the county is in a "red zone" until at least May 25.
Dr. Allen Greiner, the UG’s chief medical officer, will make an announcement about whether Wyandotte County can move to the yellow zone by May 21. Moving from one zone to the next involves carefully considering the number of hospitalizations and deaths in the county and surrounding area hospitals over a 14-day period, as well as the percentage of positive tests over a 14-day period, according to UG officials.
The salon owner hopes the health department lets her open sooner than later.
"I would like to open tomorrow, but we can't," Trower said.
