Back in business: Penrith preparing for freedom day

Olivia Mangold is excited to be reopening Insignia on Monday. Photo: Melinda Jane.
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Penrith is preparing to get back to business with the state set to reopen from Monday.

NSW hit the 70 per cent double dose target this week, meaning vaccinated residents will exit lockdown as planned.

Hospitality venues will be able to welcome fully vaccinated patrons back but will be subject to one person per 4sqm inside and one person per 2sqm outside, with standing while drinking permitted outside.

Beauty services will be in high demand as they also follow the one person per 4sqm rule, with a cap of five clients per premises.

Owner of Insignia Hair and Day Spa, Olivia Mangold said her team has been inundated with customers wanting to book appointments.

“Since we got a confirmed date, we have been working 12 hour days back to back to contact our customers plus new clients who we consulted with over the phone during lockdown to book them in,” Ms Mangold said.

“Myself and my staff are just so excited to see everyone and we are already booked out for a month so will be trying to get through everyone.”

Ms Mangold said she used the lockdown period to prepare for when the salon could resume operating again.

“We refurbished to have a separate manicure room to ensure social distancing and I worked on our safety plans to ensure our space is COVID compliant and how we will adhere to the five client cap,” she said.

“For the first month we will be trading 9am to 9pm from Monday to Thursday, we will do Fridays and Saturday as normal, and are also opening on Sundays to accommodate our loyal customers.”

Unvaccinated people will have to wait to December to access the services, along with gyms and non-critical retail.

With business owners desperate to start trading again, Ms Mangold said following the rules is the biggest priority.

“As a business owner who has been closed for months I have to comply with the health orders because I cannot afford not to,” she said.

“It is not my personal choice to not let unvaccinated clients in but there are large fines for businesses for non-compliance so we will only allow fully vaccinated people until we can welcome everyone back in.”

Some businesses, such as Mulgoa Road restaurant Rashays, say they won’t open until December 1, when they can let all customers through the doors.


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