EDMONTON -- The Alberta government has released business-specific advice for stores and services that will gradually reopen in the coming weeks.

Beginning as early as Thursday, depending on the outcome of an emergency management committee meeting, some retail businesses, personal services, daycares, cafes, restaurants and pubs will open their doors in Stage 1 of the province's plan to relaunch the economy.

The new guidelines cover businesses including:

Some personal service providers previously raised concerns over a lack of specific guidelines for businesses, saying existing recommendations were too vague.

The new guidance documents supplement a previous 14-page guideline for all business owners that covers topics including cleaning and disinfecting, employee and customer screening protocols and how to deal with sick workers.

Barbers and hair salon workers, for example, are being told to wear procedural or surgical masks when working directly with clients. Salons are also being asked to encourage clients to wear masks for added protection.

Salons and other businesses must remove high-touch items like magazines and toys from waiting rooms and ask clients to wait outside if the area is too small to provide two metres between them.

Restaurants, cafes pubs and bars, which were given the green light to reopen in Stage 1 at 50 per cent capacity, will have to rearrange their spaces so customers can stay two metres apart at all times, and to install physical barriers between tables if they can't.

Reusable menus will have to be sanitized between sittings and paper menus must be thrown out after one use.

Guests should be encouraged to wash their hands or use hand sanitizer before entering and when leaving the establishments, the province says.

Dancing, pool tables, karaoke and other activities will not be permitted to take place in establishments yet.

The guidelines go so far as to suggest operators keep music low to discourage customers from leaning in to hear one another.

Places of worship like churches will be asked to reduce attendance to 50 people, or one-third of normal service numbers, whichever is lower — as well as have staff and visitors use a COVID-19 self-assessment tool before attending.

Communion will also be put on hold, as current guidelines prevent the sharing of communal items.

Rules for licensed child care centres are outlined in a seven-page document that includes directions that must be taken before reopening and during use.

Programs can operate in cohorts of 10 people who stay together throughout the day, including staff and children. They cannot mix with other cohort groups or be in the same room at the same time.

Parents will be asked to check their kids' temperatures daily before coming in and any essential visitors will have to fill out a questionnaire to determine whether or not they can enter a facility.

The government has also provided guidance documents for various sectors, including:

View all of the government's guidelines for business operators on Alberta.ca.