Grooming sector being strangled by COVID-19

WESTERN BUREAU:

Practitioners in the grooming industry – including barbers, hairdressers, and nail technicians – are facing worsening occupational hazards as the Delta variant of the coronavirus presents a growing public health threat.

Many customers, too, have been making fewer trips for grooming services for fear of contracting the deadly virus.

“I am definitely not going into any barbershop at this time, because I know at least three persons who are convinced they caught the virus at their barbershop,” a businessman told The Gleaner. “I have resorted to trimming my beard myself because, while I really can’t manage the shaving myself, I can always trim it low.”

For Tasheca Bennett, a beauty therapist who operates Butterfly Spa and Salon in Montego Bay, her business has been facing quite a challenge since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“That has been a struggle, because we have a lot of persons who are now working from home and certain services are now considered a luxury,” said Bennett. “Some customers are now opting to remain ungroomed, largely because they are out of a job and cannot afford to pay the normal cost associated with these services.”

“Those person who comes by are those who are required to attend work in a face-to-face environment,” said Bennett, who noted that despite the downturn in business, her establishment has been bundling its services to meet customers’ budget.

A senior police officer, who asked not to be identified, said he is currently struggling with the idea of having to face a barber on a regular basis to meet the requirement of his job, as he takes no delight in the close contact involved in the trimming of his hair and the shaving of his beard.

“Every time I go to the barber, I carry two new masks, one for him and one for me,” the lawman said. “I also bring sanitisers, and he has to sanitise all his tools and himself before he can touch me. I have seen what COVID has done to so many people, and I am taking every precaution possible not to get it.”

UPTICK IN EARLY SUMMER

Despite the sluggish pace of her business over the last 18 months, Bennett said the early parts of this summer saw an uptick in business.

“Business was better for the summer. It was quite different from what we have been seeing. I think mainly because we had a lot more tourists coming in, but it has gotten quiet again,” said Bennett, whose clientele consists of both locals and international travellers to the island.

As it relates to following the COVID-19 protocol, Bennett said her team of barbers, hairstylists, and nail technicians have all been fully compliant.

“We have implemented mask-wearing and social-distancing protocols, and sanitising has always been a part of the establishment. What we have been doing, however, is to extend our sanitisation process to meet the measures established by the Government as a result of COVID,” explained Bennett.

“Sanitisation facilities are at each station where services are being offered to the public, and the staff and their clients are required to sanitise before and after each service is rendered,” she added.

According to Bennett, at the start of each day, all door handles, knobs, seats, workstation, and those areas that would have been exposed to possible droplets, are sanitised.