With offices set to open, rush begins at salons

Vijayawada: With barbershops and salons closed during the lockdown, many people had started to shave their own heads. The bald and buzzcuts trended on social networking platforms. Moreover, the news of a barber testing positive for coronavirus at Khargone in Madhya Pradesh only added to people’s fears. It was hence of little surprise that barbershops and salons, which opened from in lockdown 4.0, remained deserted.

But the picture was different on Sunday. With the government confining lockdown 5.0 to containment areas and offices and business establishments in non-containment areas set to function from Monday, barbershops and salons were crowded on Sunday.

Speaking to TOI, one of the many people who had lined up at a barbershop in Gurunanak Road said, “Covid-19 has changed my life. I used to visit a salon every month. But during the lockdown I groomed myself at home. But now my office is going to open from Monday and I need a haircut by a professional,” said K Nagur who works at a private firm.

Meanwhile, owners of barbershops and salons said they are focused on the safety of consumers and the employees. They are sanitising all equipment after use. “People were avoiding haircuts in salons fearing that they would contract Covid-19 . But we are using PPE suits and all safety gear to minimise the risk of Covid-19. Many people who tried haircuts at home during lockdown have come to us now to get a proper haircut. Expenditure has increased owning to safety gear but we are not charging more from our consumers,” said K Satish Babu, who runs a salon at Gunadala.