Hair salons are set to reopen in Connecticut in eight days, but a number of owners and stylists are hoping the governor will push that date back.
News 12 has heard from workers and owners who are concerned about being included in phase one of Connecticut's reopening.
A Facebook group called CT Stylists for Late Stage Openings, created by the owner of Artistex Salon and Spa Odete DaSilva, has more than 3,200 members.
"We have to physically touch our clients in order to provide them their services," said Metamorphosis Salon owner Rachel Hampton. "Six-feet apart is just not the thing, making it even more likely for us to be spreading this thing and to get it ourselves."
Other workers say they are scared for their families and coming home to them after seeing clients all day.
"I'm scared because I have a family, I have two children, a husband, and what does that look like when I come home," saus Jennifer DeGrandi, a stylist at Alta Moda Salon.
The state has listed necessary precautions salons must take in order to reopen, including wearing personal protective equipment and changing setups to include dividers or stations 6-feet apart.
Gov. Ned Lamont says salons don't have to start seeing clients again.
"First of all, if you don't feel ready, don't open," he says.
Hampton says if all the businesses around her open but she chooses to remain closed, her clients may seek out another place to get their hair done - further damaging her business.
The group hopes that by going public, the governor will reevaluate his decision and move salons to a later phase.
"We want to do it in a way in which we are safe and in which we are responsibly doing it to our community, keeping our communities safe," says DaSilva.
Lamont says that salons will be allowed to use blow dryers when they reopen.
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