Local Businesses Seeing Different Impacts Due To Coronavirus Concerns

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Worries about the coronavirus are impacting Utah businesses, with some seeing supply prices skyrocket while others are seeing fewer customers come through their doors.

At Salt Lake City salon Wax Me Too, client safety is top of mind.

“Wax Me Too salon has always taken sanitation very seriously,” owner Jolie Arsenault said. “Every esthetician will wash her hands and put her gloves on before she even touches a client.”

Items like gloves, sanitation wipes and other products are stocked in every room which is why a couple of weeks ago, Arsenault decided to be proactive about purchasing these supplies.

“When we started hearing about the coronavirus and started seeing some of the panic that was happening, we decided to go ahead and order extra supplies at the time,” she said.

Arsenault said that step has helped her company save money as the lack of supply for those sanitation products drives prices up.

Impacts from virus concerns were being felt in a different way at local travel agency Columbus Travel.

“The calls have slowed down,” said owner Larry Gelwix. “This is traditionally a very busy time.”

Gelwix said no doubt people are nervous to travel right now, which is impacting demand for cruises, airfare and hotels.

“The fact of life is that all travel like much of life is economics 101, supply and demand,” he said.

The good news though, his agency is getting calls about booking travel in areas without widespread coronavirus concerns.

“We are seeing a real interest in what some people think are more safe destinations, New Zealand, Australia,” he said.

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How Do I Prevent It?

The CDC has some simple recommendations, most of which are the same for preventing other respiratory illnesses or the flu:

• Avoid close contact with people who may be sick
• Avoid touching your face
• Stay home when you are sick
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue and then throw the tissue in the trash
• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom, before eating, and after blowing your nose, coughing or sneezing. Always wash your hands with soap and water if your hands are visibly dirty.
• If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol.

The CDC does not recommend wearing a facemask respirator to protect yourself from coronavirus unless a healthcare professional recommends it.