05/19/2020
I am grateful for all of my clients throughout the past 17 years and have appreciated your support and patience through these uncertain times. I wanted to give everyone an update on where I stand with reopening. I am sure you are like me and are concerned about which phase massage therapists are in. The truth is we still have not received notification other than it will be the Governor's decision. I have spent the last 2 months reading peer reviewed scientific research, talking with our senators, my mentors, our State and National Boards, and holding peer zoom meetings trying to figure out when would be the right time to open, what that would look like, and how we would be able to do that safely. I have been purchasing PPE gear and the screening tools we will be required to have, most of which are on backorder until the middle of June or later. Based on a number of factors, I have realized even taking every recommended precaution, I cannot guarantee the safety of my clients or myself at this time. I will be holding off from opening at least through June even if NC says we can open earlier. I will reevaluate at the end of June. I will continue to closely monitor the situation and do research, but at this time there are too many unknowns about this virus and no treatment or vaccine available. As you are aware, people can be completely asymptomatic, pass current screening technologies available to me, and still be able to pass the virus along. That fact combined with the recent studies showing that people sharing space in a confined area while wearing PPE have a dramatically higher rate of infection with any time spent together longer than 15 minutes influenced my decision. Those studies were with social distancing. I can only assume it would be even worse for us with skin to skin contact for up to 90 minutes straight. More information is coming out daily about new symptoms/health problems caused by COVID-19 including blood clots, which can become dislodged during massage. The clotting issue is affecting younger populations that were previously thought to not be "at risk". We have also been informed that at this time, our liability insurance will not cover Covid related claims. I miss you all and will open, but not at a time that is not safe for us. I know that massage improves your quality of life, but this virus is killing people. With the vast majority of my clients either having immune issues or having immunocompromised significant others, I am just not willing to risk your lives for the sake of financial stability. I will be contacting every client by phone over the next week or so to let you know "in person" and you can let me know if you need to make other arrangements. Know that this isn't a decision I have made lightly, in fact I have lost a lot of sleep over it. Know that I care about all of you like my family and am simply not willing to take this gamble with your health when another month or two will give us more insight and knowledge about this foe. Thank you for your understanding.
Your friendly neighborhood massage therapist,
Heather Hager LMBT 4795
