Men beauty salons, barbershops witness subdued rush this Eid

Islamabad : As the festival of Eidul Fitr approaches, men beauty salons and barbershops across the twin cities are witnessing a subdued rush as people have been visiting them ahead of Eidul Fitr celebrations but not like past years due to coronavirus scare.

On the recommendation of Technical Working Group (TWG), the Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SH) Department, Punjab, on May 13, issued Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for barber shops, salons to prevent Covid-19 spread.

The Covid-19 is a highly transmissible disease which spreads through respiratory droplets produced during coughing, sneezing and talking to the infected person. Touching eyes, mouth and nose with contaminated hands transmits the virus that affects the respiratory system. Most of the precautionary measures are common and must be followed by barber shops, salons. However, some precautions are exclusive to each category of outlets.

According to the government instructions and SOPs, the barbershops, salons and gyms/health clubs are required to observe the following precautionary measures to avoid the disease spread.

Among the common precautionary measures for barbershops, salons and gyms/health clubs are: the essential services which cannot be managed at home like haircut shall be admissible at barber shops only; face shave shall be discouraged.

The facility for hand washing with soap or sanitizer must be provided at the barber shops. Barbers must wash hands with soap before haircut of every customer. Both barber and customer shall wear masks. Avoid overcrowding by providing service to customers on appointment only. Follow one customer at a time policy. No hand shake or hugging is allowed.

The barbershops must be well lit and ventilated having open windows and doors or fitted with exhaust fan. Avoid use of towel. Furniture, doors, chairs and other places should be disinfected with 0.05% chlorine solution prepared on a daily basis.

According to beauty salons, not only the women but men have also started visiting the beauty salons to groom themselves.

Various male beauty salons have mushroomed in the city, offering all sorts or beauty treatments and special packages including Ramazan deals, said a citizen, but this year we are not visiting them because of the fear of the coronavirus pandemic.

A barber in Raja Bazaar said, “A lot of men used to come for grooming during this period last year and before that but this year, the situation is all too different. “Though our shops remain crowded during Eid days, but this year lesser number of people have come to visit since reopening of our businesses on May 14, but during the lockdown many people hired ourt services and took us to their homes for hair cutting and other services.”

“Eid night is the golden night for barbers where they operate for 24 hours, said another salon worker, but this year we fear the business will not be that usual.”