Vanesa Lopez
07/13/2020 - 17:16
- Clarín.com
- Society
Going to the hairdresser is much more than cutting your hair. Although - if the plan that the Buenos Aires Government is evaluating in the midst of the coronavirus quarantine is approved - it will become a healthier and less social experience than usual. There will be no magazines, no one will offer us "a cut", and in some cases we will not have any other clients to chat with.
"Hairdressers have done a very good protocol . I do not know if on July 20, but they will quickly be able to work again, "announced the deputy head of the Buenos Aires Government, Diego Santilli, according to what Telme broadcast.
Consulted by Clarín , sources from the City Government explain that the hairdressers "are going to be included in a next stage , which is after the opening of non-essential stores ."
The first step will be to reopen the 70,000 non-essential stores that were closed. Then, the opening of the 10,000 shops that are in open-air shopping centers will come. Then, the evolution of the contagion curve will be measured. And only later will opening measures be taken in other sectors, including hairdressing salons.
Plastic covers on the chairs show the spaces that can be used while respecting social distance. (Juan Manuel Foglia)
Official spokesmen prefer not to give dates. They ask to be "cautious" and point out that the return of the stylists "is not yet defined."
Of course: they confirm that they are working on the protocols to follow. It is a draft , which will have to be approved by the Buenos Aires Ministry of Health and also by the national one.
That plan indicates that clients should go on duty . They cannot be accompanied. And in the moments of greater influx of people the hairdressers will have to reduce the attention time.
Whether it is a large salon or a neighborhood hair salon, both will be required to maintain maximum capacity. Only one person will be allowed every 15 square meters. Which means that some small stores will only serve one customer at a time.
In addition, in the pool area for washing the heads, between each one there should be 1.5 meters apart .
They must comply with all security measures. Wear face masks or protective masks, both when entering and remaining in the room. If the client does not have it, the local will have to provide it. In addition, when entering, you will have to wash your hands or sanitize yourself with alcohol gel or sanitizer.
You will not be able to offer snacks, candy, or coffee . Only water that will have to be served in an individual disposable glass. And the dispenser will have to be disinfected several times. Neither can magazines or catalogs be shared . The less contact material they have, the better.
Each employee must, when arriving at the premises, take off the clothes they had on the street and put on a gown or uniform . You will need to wash your hands before applying products like shampoo, masks, or gels. You will not be able to share materials , such as scissors, but each must have their own.
The robes, neck protectors and towels used by clients should be, if possible, made of disposable material . Another option is that they are freshly washed at a temperature of between 60 and 90 degrees. They cannot be reused. You have to avoid shaking the towels . And after using them, the staff has to put them in a plastic bag to take them to the laundry.
In the Vernucci brothers' barber shop, they installed a sink to wash their hands when they entered. (Juan Manuel Foglia)
When paying, they suggest using electronic means of payment , so as not to manipulate money.
When asked if they will carry out controls so that all this is carried out, official sources reply that "we emphasize social responsibility" and that many of these guidelines, such as the use of the mask, "people already have them incorporated". And he adds: “ There is confidence that it will be respected . They are recommendations that they themselves have suggested, from the cameras of the sector ”.
Who presented it, through an infectologist, was the General Confederation of Hairdressers and Combs of Argentina. Its president, Miguel Ligori, tells this newspaper that in several provinces the activity has already started following this plan.
" We are prepared to open any time the ordinance provides for it," says Ligori, aware that it will bring them great losses . He estimates that the premises will have 70% fewer clients , since they will have to limit shifts. And the cost of supplies will be 60% higher for purchases of disposable material, chinstraps and disinfectants. So they asked the government to help them pay for services and taxes.
"We are all in debt. You cannot pay the taxes, the expenses, the social charges. It is very difficult to maintain a structure after a 25-year career, ”laments Roberto Vernucci, who, along with his brother, heads a hair salon in San Cristobal and organizes parades in Carlos Paz every summer.
At the head of a civil association of hairdressers, Vernucci also presented a protocol. "We did it well in the neighborhood, so that the one with two employees or the one with 30 can do the same," he says. Among other things, he proposes to make each client sign a form (with questions such as: “Did you have a fever?”) And send it to the Ministry of Health.
"The idea is to work and start," says the one who has already taken action on the matter. He put a sink to wash his hands when entering the room. He installed an acrylic on the entry bar. He disabled two of the four headwashing pools, to maintain social distance. And she put up posters on the street, "so that the client knows that she will be well cared for."
In the metropolitan area (AMBA) there are about 10 thousand hairdressing salons . They have been closed for more than 100 days, mostly going through a very critical situation.
18% of Argentines -according to a survey carried out by Adecco among 3,800 people- mentioned them among the shops and places of recreation that they miss the most in this quarantine . Perhaps because they agree with Ligori that beauty is necessary for two things: for presentation and for spirit.
Three infections in Rosario's hairdressing salon
Two employees of a hairdressing salon in the macro center of the city of Rosario were infected with coronavirus at a social gathering. They were asymptomatic, as reported by the local newspaper La Capital.
The contagion forced the business to close and the health authorities had to carry out controls on the 12 people the workers had attended. One of the clients also tested positive.
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