A nail technician said a client lied about having the coronavirus because they 'desperately' needed a manicure

• A nail technician said she received a message from a customer saying they had tested positive for COVID-19 before their appointment.
• The customer said that they felt bad and shouldn't have turned up to the appointment but that they "desperately" needed a manicure.
• The nail technician said that the client knew she was immunocompromised and that she had asked them not to show up if they had been exposed to the coronavirus.
• In response, the client said they were "desperate to get out of the house" and needed their nails done "soooooo bad."
• The nail technician posted the text exchange on Instagram on August 4 and urged people to "protect ourselves and each other."

A nail technician said she recently received a text message from a client saying they had tested positive for COVID-19 before their manicure appointment.

"I feel really bad and should not have shown up for my appointment but I desperately needed my nails done!" the client wrote in messages that the nail technician, Taylor, shared on Instagram on August 4.

"I tested positive for the virus two days ago soooooo please quarantine yourself," the customer added.

Taylor said she lived in Washington, whose guidelines say that people going for beauty treatments such as manicures "must self-screen for signs and symptoms of COVID-19 before arriving at the service provider location."

Taylor said that she was immunocompromised and that the client knew that. She told the client in a message that she wasn't legally allowed to take the appointment if there was a chance the person had the coronavirus.

"I asked you before you even got here if you had been exposed to the virus and if you have had it at any point," Taylor said.

The client said they were "just desperate to get out of the house!"

"I was quarantine in two days I'm sorry!" they said. "I needed my nails done soooooo bad!"

Taylor said she had been overwhelmed by the reaction to the text messages, which she originally shared in a Facebook post that's been taken down.

"I can't believe how this literally has spread across this world like wild fire," she wrote on Instagram.

"Let's protect ourselves and each other. If there is anything I have learned in the last 24 hours, there may be a handful of unthoughtful people like this ex client who did this to me yesterday, but this world is a beautiful place with a whole lot of people in it willing to do what's right."

She urged everyone to "keep on being good to others" and to "kick this virus outta here."

"For everyone who keeps commenting, she HAS been reported," Taylor added. "I cannot keep up with all the comments on Facebook and here with everyone saying that. Thank you!"

Taylor told Allure that while she and the client wore masks during the appointment, she had to quarantine herself for two weeks as a precaution.

"It was very distressing to receive those messages," she said. "It is alarming to think there are people who don't take other people's safety seriously."

She added, "My first concern is the safety of my clients, family members, and friends — first and foremost."

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