Rawalpindi : The majority of hairdressers in the city are making mockery of the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) introduced by the Punjab government so they may become a tool to spread coronavirus among the people.
When hairdressers and barbers were allowed to run their shops they were given SOPs and warned that in case of violation they would be fined and stopped from doing business. Ayaz Bhatti, a resident of New Katarian, said when he visited a hairdresser shop seven customers were sitting there and the hairdresser was cutting hair of another customer without wearing a face mask.
According to SOPs, both barber and customer should wear masks and service should be provided to customers on appointment only.
He said: “I have taken appointment from the hairdresser who told me to sit inside the shop but I decided to wait outside.” “When I saw that the hairdresser was not using sanitizers and disinfecting chairs and other metallic tools like scissors I returned back without having my haircut,” he said.
The situation is also not different in other areas where rush of customers is seen at the barbershops. It seems that most of the barbers and customers never pay heed to the directives of the government to follow SOPs to combat the coronavirus pandemic. Tahir Rashid, a resident of Pindora, said he really got shocked to see that no one from the customers asked the hairdresser about violation of SOPs introduced by the government.
“There was no sanitizer; no soap; no arrangement for disinfection of chairs; and even barber was cutting hair without wearing a face mask,” he said. He said this trend was really dangerous because violation of SOPs could enormously spread the coronavirus, adding “If barbers feel that following SOPs will increase their running expenditure then they can charge customers some extra money due to current situation.”