Madurai
After a gap of several weeks, salons and beauty parlours in the city resumed their operations on Sunday by adopting several safety precautions.
The shop owners said that they thoroughly disinfected the shop every one hour, strictly enforced the staff and customers to wear face masks. Customers were also asked to wash their hands before entering their saloon, they added.
Customers were checked to see if they have cough, fever or cold and only then allowed inside shops, said L. Vidya, who runs a beauty parlour in Anna Nagar.
S. Mohammed Muzammil, the owner of ‘Hair Wavez, a men’s salon in Anna Nagar, said that his staff wore single-use hand gloves, face shield and mask as a safety precaution.
“After hearing about barbers testing positive for COVID-19, we are taking all safety precautions. We also cannot afford to delay resumption of operations as we have to pay rent and salary for our staff, who are mostly migrant workers from Delhi,” he said.
D. Muralidharan, who runs ‘Hair and Fair’ on West Veli Street, said that his salon has eight chairs, but he allows only four customers at once to ensure personal distancing.
“After we attend a customer, we even disinfect the scissors and comb. We have also ordered disposable towels, so that we can use only one towel for each customer,” he said.
Mr. Muzammil said that around 40 customers visited his shop on Sunday. “Since, most of them could not get a haircut for the last two months, a steady stream of customers visited our salon throughout the day. But, we had told them to fix an appointment over the phone and ensured that they did not crowd outside the salon,” he said.
Echoing his views Mr. Muralidharan also said that 70 customer visited his shop to have a haircut. “But, I could attend only 40 customers and asked the rest to come tomorrow,” he said.
On the contrary, only a few female customers walked in at beauty parlours, said Ms. Vidya. “Many were also apprehensive to have a facial or thread their eyebrows as it involves more physical contact,” she said.
Tirunelveli
Following the restrictions being lifted for salons in urban areas, hairdressers opened shops in Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Kanniyakumari and Tenkasi districts.
After two months of lockdown, the customers thronged the outlets for a haircut. Many were seen maintaining social distance and shops had provided sanitizers. The customers were also seen wearing face masks.
In Millerpuram Thoothukudi district, a hair style specialist Pon Mariappan, who is famous in the locality, as he has a small library in his salon, sterilized the scissors and comb before using them on the next customer. He also requested his customers to cooperate in maintaining social distance and not to crowd at the salon.
In Palayamkottai, a hairdresser said that after the HIV scare, all salons irrespective of where they were located, changed the blades without taking any risks. Hence, with COVID-19 pandemic, the salons were instructed to use both face masks and hand gloves as a precaution, he added.
Antony (32), a local resident here, said that the salons without air conditioners should be permitted to function without restrictions on timings. Residents may prefer to come late in the evening as it was very hot during the afternoon. Hence, salons should be allowed to function till 9 p.m., he added.