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VICTORIA — B.C.’s hair salons and beauty businesses will need to dramatically improve hygiene and safety before being allowed to reopen from COVID-19 closures, says the health minister.

Adrian Dix said Thursday he wants hair stylists, nail salons, spas, waxing establishments, estheticians, microblading and laser skin treatment centres to come together and improve their practices before being allowed to see customers as the economy reopens in the weeks ahead.

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Those businesses were deregulated by the previous Liberal government in 2003, and now do not have a representative association or standards on cleanliness. The lack of clarity takes on renewed significance for an industry that involves close contact between customers and employees, at a time when the province has instituted strict social distancing measures to limit transmission of COVID-19.

Dix stopped short of saying he would re-regulate the sector with new legislation.