It's possible hair salons across the state will be allowed to reopen sooner than expected.

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Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn't ruled out hair salons being part of Phase 2 of the state's four-phase reopening process.

On Thursday, Cuomo confirmed the Central New York, North Country, Mohawk Valley, Finger Lakes and Southern Tier regions will all start the phased reopening process on Friday.

Phase 2 allows retail, real estate and finance to open. Phase 3 will allow restaurants and hotels to reopen. Phase 4 includes entertainment venues and schools. Cuomo previously said each phase will last two weeks but has since said it the reopening could be accelerated.

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On Thursday during his COVID-19 briefing from Syracuse, Cuomo said details about Phase 2 will be announced soon. During the question and answer portion of his press conference, he had the following exchange with News10 NBC reporter Jennifer Lewke about Phase 2 and hair salons.

Lewke: “There's a lot of confusion among professions that are not in phase 1 about which phase they are in, like hairstylists, they think they're in phase 2. Do you have an idea of when you might have a firm list of which professions are in which phase?”

Cuomo: I hadn't heard that question but we can do that.

Lewke: Do you see them in Phase 2?

Cuomo: I don't know that I'm qualified to have an opinion on that, unless you're saying I need a haircut really badly and then we'll talk about it but we'll get the information and we'll also have daily calls with the control council.

Lewke: I'm just using that as an example.

Gov. Cuomo: So, I'm going to gracefully and artfully look to dodge your question on hairstylists until I can go back and get informed and then I will have someone give you the answer.

Late Thursday, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said hair salons will be in Phase 2.

Under Cuomo's plan, a region can start Phase 1 of the reopening process on May 15 if all seven metrics are hit. Phase 1 includes the reopening of construction, manufacturing, retail with curbside pickup, wholesale trade, agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting.

The Mid-Hudson and Captial Region regions meet five of the seven metrics. New York City, Long Island and Western New York meet four metrics, as of this writing. Those regions must wait until they hit all of the metrics to start the phased reopening process.

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