Minister Verlinden: “Dog hairdressing salons may open, stricter border controls and the police will not systematically ring the bell”

The police will also keep an eye on the crowds in the shopping streets. “But here it is primarily the responsibility of the merchants themselves to keep queues in front of the stores under control,” says Verlinden. Local authorities will also take measures to ensure that this is done safely.

The ministerial order with the new measures will be published this weekend. It will clarify which stores are allowed to open and which are not. From Tuesday, all non-essential stores will be allowed to reopen, but contact professions such as hairdressers and beauticians have yet to remain closed. “Dog hairdressing salons will be allowed to open,” says Verlinden.

The dog groomers are happy that they can get back to work. “The people who had an appointment during that period of lockdown, they move on, but those are dogs that sometimes only come by every four or five months and they come inside completely in tangles or with a lot of work”, says Dominique Standaert of the professional association for dog grooming. “Grooming dogs is a physically demanding profession and you quickly get overloaded.”

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