Salons Fighting Coronavirus – Summary of the State of Disaster and What Salons can Do
The industry, together with the whole of South Africa, is facing challenging times ahead.
After the declaration of the State of Disaster shown in the infogram below, everyone’s life will change for the next 2-3 months.
It is important to remember that these rules should be followed to the letter, and as from today. They are there to prevent a spike in transmission that will overwhelm healthcare facilities and result in much higher fatalities. Not only will this do the most damage to the poorest sector of our population, but it will mean that everyone else suffers no matter what their health issue is.
If doctors are inundated with coronavirus cases it means fewer beds and resources available to treat car accident victims, heart attacks, cancer patients, and every other health challenge that ourselves and our families might face.
The aim of the State of Disaster is to slow down the spread of cases so that they remain manageable. Social distancing is by far the most effective way of doing this.
Examples in other countries have shown us how fast this virus can spread, it increases exponentially. These measures have been introduced just in time and we at Hairnews are grateful for the government’s proactive stance.
What You can Do
• With schools closed, give your staff more flexibility in their hours as the idea is that children should not mingle but should stay in relative isolation. It may therefore be necessary for some staff to take time off.
• Show that you are implementing rigorous and visible hygiene protocol in the salon, and make sure you have notices available both on social media and in the salon, explaining what is being done and how you are keeping clients safe. We are delighted to see so many salons already doing this proactively, as in the visuals.
• An excellent rule of thumb for preventing the spread of the virus is that every person in the salon should imagine that they already have the virus and are responsible for taking precautions to stop its transmission.
• Look for ways that you can support your local businesses who will suffer the most – one example that has been given is to buy vouchers, for use once the state of disaster has been lifted. You could do the same in your salon and ask clients to purchase a voucher if they prefer not to come into the salon, and you need the support to help your staff and business stay afloat.
• Rearrange your salon to provide more space between stations so that the 1-metre rule can be complied with and this will put clients at ease.
• If you are able to stagger appointments and offer clients more flexible opening hours this may also be a solution for you to continue helping clients who now have healthcare concerns or are under pressure of time with children to look after.
• There are likely to be local food drives and charity initiatives – contribute to these where you can.
• Keep networked and up to date with the news during this time, as this will not only keep you safer by making you aware of local cases, but offer you ideas for coping, and ways that you can help.
If you have any other business ideas that you are implementing in your salon please send them to info@hairnews.co.za – we would love to share them for the benefit of all.
