The sharper rise in coronavirus / Covid-19 cases and death rate than the government and its advisors expected; the bringing in of further measures, ie the closure of schools; and the advice of a trusted friend and colleague who used to work in Public Health, brought me to the point this week where I could no longer in good conscience stay open and make any contribution at this crucial time to people being in contact with others more than absolutely necessary.
No matter how good my hygiene measures, I cannot do my therapies from the 2 metre / 6 1/2 foot distance that avoids this extremely infectious virus being passed on - and we now know it is at its most infectious before people develop symptoms and some people do not develop any symptoms at all.
I am sure you have been following this on the news and seeing the governments announcements, but just to reiterate - please restrict physical contact with others as much as you can, keep washing your hands, and avoiding touching your face, in order to slow down the spread of this disease, which has crippled the capacity of health services in Italy and Spain. The slower it spreads, the less people will die due to lack of ventilators for post-viral pneumonia.
Find ways to look after your physical and mental health, to deal with stress and anxiety and keep your immune system strong. I am sorry my services won't be available to support you in that. As difficult as it is, I feel this is the best thing I can do for the health and safety of my clients, our whole community, and all the people our community is connected to all over the world.
PS On Friday 20th March, 2 days after my decision to close on Wednesday 18th March, the government asked all 'spas, wellbeing centres and massage parlours' to close. Not the clearest wording but my professional association the FHT confirmed that meant all of us, sports, complementary and beauty therapists.