KUALA LUMPUR, May 7 ― The Health Ministry would not allow hair salons or barber shops to operate yet due to fear of Covid-19 transmission among customers and employees, said its director-general Datuk Dr Noor Hisham Abdullah said.
In his daily briefing today, Dr Noor Hisham stated that this was due to reported cases of Covid-19 transmissions at such establishments in Japan and the United States.
“As for now, we do not allow for barbers to operate as there have been reports in Japan and the US of Covid-19 infection between the barber and the customers.
Dr Noor Hisham stated that they would first review the Covid-19 situation within two weeks of the conditional movement control order (CMCO) and would decide after if to allow for business such as barbers or hair salons to operate.
“We are monitoring this two week period in terms of the case development, whether there is an increase or not. So before we can open more sectors, such as barbers, we have to monitor before we can advise further,’’ he said.
Last Monday, almost all business sectors are allowed to operate under the CMCO, as a means to jumpstart the economy following after a month of partial nationwide lockdown under the movement control order (MCO).
However, under CMCO business such as barbers, sporting events, religious celebrations at places of worship and even dress fitting are not allowed as it would be difficult to maintain to the strict social distancing procedures.
Last month, Putrajaya had allowed hair salons and barber shops to reopen, but received criticism from across the political divide as well as the general public on the grounds that it would be difficult for these services to comply with strict social distancing procedures due to the nature of their profession.