Hair salons will stay shut until at least late April

Britons in need of a haircut will need to wait until at least April because salons are set to stay shut until at least April, according to reports.

Although Prime Minister Boris Johnson is set to announce a ‘roadmap’ out of lockdown which will see more social mixing allowed within weeks, hairdressers are set to lose out. 

Sources told The Sun that the beauty industry still has ‘some time to go’ before it can re-open. 

It means hairdressers could have to wait until late April before they can re-open while treatments such as waxing and pedicures – where ‘contact is inherent’ – will have to wait longer. 

By contrast, hair salon owners in Wales may be able to re-open their doors within four weeks – the same time that non-essential shops will welcome customers once again.  

Wales First Minister Mark Drakeford told BBC Breakfast on Friday: ‘If it is possible from March 15 to begin the reopening of some aspects of non-essential retail and personal services such as hairdressing then…that is what we would want to do.’ 

It comes as the PM is poised to allow more social mixing within weeks, providing a light at the end of the tunnel for millions of grandparents isolated from their grandchildren for most of the past year.     

A Whitehall source said rules dictating how many people they can spend time with outdoors will be relaxed. 

Ministers are looking at the data and a final decision on when the restrictions will be eased will be taken at the weekend.

It means friends and family could be able to see each other again in time for the Easter holidays. 

The Prime Minister will spend the weekend putting the finishing touches to his long-awaited roadmap, before he announces it on Monday. 

It is thought the new plan could replace the ‘Rule of Six’ as entire families, regardless of size, are expected to be allowed to meet up in outside spaces. 

From April, two households would be able to meet outdoors while gatherings of six people from six different households would also be acceptable.

Relatives who live further away from each other may have to wait a little longer for a reunion, as the future rules on travelling longer distances are still unclear. 

And in the case of those who do meet up, the two-metre rule is expected to remain in place for months to come.

Mr Johnson is set to meet senior ministers today to hammer out the final details. 

The committee will examine the latest data on the impact of lockdown and the vaccine rollout, so they can decide how quickly to lift restrictions.

Cabinet will then rubber stamp the plans on Monday morning, before they are revealed to the Commons that afternoon.

The blueprint is likely to see schools return on March 8 along with more relaxed rules on outdoor exercise; the return of outdoor sports like golf and tennis at the end of next month and non-essential shops opening soon after Easter. 

Pubs and restaurants may also be able to serve people outdoors from April – although not indoors until May. 

Mr Johnson has made clear his ambition for all 10 million schoolchildren and staff to return on March 8. 

The children would be tested for coronavirus twice a week in an effort to control the spread of the virus.

But education sources told The Guardian Mr Whitty was ‘very unhappy’ with the plan. 

Some officials are concerned a mass return will both rise infection rates and pose problems with administering covid tests to pupils.

Both ministers and senior advisers want Mr Whitty to publicly back a full return, but he is said to be ‘lukewarm’.

A Department for Education source last night branded the claim ‘absolute b******t’. A government source also said the claim was ‘categorically untrue’.

The slow opening is likely to anger hospitality chiefs who have demanded an accelerated lifting of restrictions, given the success of the vaccine rollout. 

It is as yet unclear when domestic staycations or travel around Britain will be allowed to resume.