Hairdressers and barbers are expected be allowed to re-open sooner than planned on June 29.
According to a report in today’s Irish Times, a decision to bring the reopening of barbers and hairdressers forward to the end of June is being worked on as the country speeds up the easing of restrictions following the Coronavirus lockdown.
The National Public Health Emergency Team (NPHET) are expected to decide in the next week or so.
Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said on Wednesday that hairdressers could be allowed to re-open earlier than the initial stated date of July 20.
Earlier this week the Irish Hairdresser’s Federation (IHF) proposed 100 measures it said could ensure salons and barbers are safe to reopen.
Among these measures are ban on reading material for customers and extensive use of personal protective equipment (PPE) for stylists and customers.
They also include proposals for the full sanitisation of workstations after each customer.
The IHF plan also suggested Covid-19 training for all staff, and there will be screening of customers when taking bookings.
The IHF had argued that if it is forced to remain closed until the end of July, the shutdown will have lasted for 18 weeks when the average time hairdressers were closed in other countries across the EU has been between six and eight weeks.
“(The guidelines) go above and beyond the Government’s advice on what to do and will enable hairdressers and barber shops to reopen safely in phase three rather than phase four,” said Danielle Kennedy, the association’s president.
She added that the federation had spent the past six weeks working with experts, the HSE, and all parties in the hair and beauty sector to develop the new guidelines.
“This is an extremely safe and cautious set of guidelines,” she said.
“There are 25,000 people employed in our sector and we want to ensure they can come back to work safely.
“If we wait any longer to re-open, hundreds of small businesses will go bust and thousands of people will lose their jobs.”
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