A hairstylist at a salon in Missouri who showed symptoms of coronavirus exposed close to 100 people to the deadly virus while she worked her shift.
The unnamed woman waited on 84 customers and exposed seven co-workers to coronavirus at a Great Clips salon, according to the Springfield-Greene County Health Department.
Missouri allowed salons to reopen May 4 while other states are still preventing those businesses from reopening due to coronavirus pandemic shutdown orders.
"The well-being of Great Clips customers and stylists in the salon is our top priority and proper sanitization has always been an important cosmetology industry practice for Great Clips salons," the franchise owners told the Kansas City Star.
Officials from the health department said the woman displayed symptoms as she worked between May 12 and May 20. The stylist and the customers were reported wearing masks throughout that period. They added, anyone who was "directly exposed" to the hairstylist would receive coronavirus tests.
Springfield-Greene County Health Department Director Clay Goddard suggested a change might come in the future if exposures like these continue to occur.
"We can't make this a regular habit or our capability as a community will be strained, and we will have to re-evaluate what things look like going forward," Goddard said. "Each of us owns just how this will go forward in our community."
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