Gujarat: SOPs for hair-cutting salons and beauty parlours in Surat

As per the SOP issued by Municipal Commissioner BN Pani, salon employees should wear PPE kit, gloves and mask while at work. The equipment used should be sterilised for 20 minutes.

With rise in Covid-19 cases in the city, the Surat Municipal Corporation (SMC) has issued standard operating procedures (SOPs) for hair-cutting salons and beauty parlours.

As per the SOP issued by Municipal Commissioner BN Pani, salon employees should wear PPE kit, gloves and mask while at work. The equipment used should be sterilised for 20 minutes. Salons and beauty parlours should function with 50 per cent staff. Napkins should be sanitised and chairs should be disinfected after every use, it says.

Pani said, “In salons and beauty parlours, customers come in direct contact with the employees and there are chances for the virus to spread.”

Nitin Limbachiya, owner of a hair-cutting salon, said, “We are following the guidelines, including social distancing. We give appointment to customers and they come accordingly.”

He added that after two months of lockdown, business was good for around 15-20 days. “Now it has gone down again… marriages and other functions are getting cancelled due to fear triggered by the rise in number of cases here. It is getting difficult for us to survive…,” said Limbachiya.

Surat city, where 397 people died of Covid, reported over 8,000 positive cases till Tuesday. Shop owners have started adopting self lockdown to check the spread of infection while the municipal commisisoner has been reaching out to people by visiting residential societies in Varachha, Sarthana, Kapodara, Punagam, Limbayat and Katargam areas, requesting them to follow Covid guidelines.