Residents in Windsor-Essex can finally hit the gym and clean up their pandemic hair next week.
Essex County heads into the Red Control Level of the Reopening Ontario Act Tuesday morning at 12 a.m.
The level is one-step removed from a total lockdown, so dining and services like gyms and hair salons can continue with strict protocols in place.
Salons will have to limit capacity to allow two metres between customers, wear PPE, and increased cleaning along with several other requirements.
Antoine Greige says his salon at 670 Goyeau St. in Windsor will be ready to do whatever it takes to open safely Tuesday.
"I do respect the health professionals ... I have to be safe, there's a lot of us with underlying conditions and you're seeing what's going on in the world with how many people we've lost," he added.
Greige has been able to wait out the lockdown, but some of his peers weren't so lucky.
"It's very hard. I've talked to a lot of people and a lot of people have lost their business," he says. "They shut their doors because they can't afford to pay rent and insurance."
He hopes everyone follows the rules so businesses can get back to normal at some point.
"My only hope and prayer is that vaccine will come sooner or something that will help us to go back to some type of normality," says Greige.
Luis Mendez owns True Fitness in downtown Windsor — even though there are still capacity rules, he's happy he can reopen.
"We can get back to doing what we do, which is having an open facility where we can have our members come in and work on their fitness, and most importantly, their mental health during this time," he says.
Mendez says the 10-person limit won't have a huge impact on the gym.
"We can still operate pretty successfully because our business model doesn't appeal to the masses like some other gyms in the city," he says. "For us this is a win for now and we can go about our business."
He hopes everyone takes the restrictions that remain in place seriously.
"We're encouraging out members and the community to behave responsibly so that independent small business owners like myself can get back to work," he added.
More on the restrictions under the Reopening Ontario Act can be found HERE.
— with files from AM800's Rob Hindi