Commiserating with Post COVID-19 Hairstyles or Lack Thereof!
By Faiza Zia Khan
Newport Beach, CA
There is absolutely no doubt we have come to terms with the idea that we are all going through strange times during the COVID-19 saga. As the world tries to get a handle on the pandemic, California moves into Phase 3. With this news we all try to find the hidden silver lining in the constant cycle of anxiety and crisis.
Governor Gavin Newsom announced the reopening of houses of worship, hair salons and barbershops in some counties of California. This step was necessary as the counties who are allowed to reopen have been on good behavior, really good behavior in fact, by following the social distancing/self-isolation rules much needed to flatten the curve. Now, we are sweetly rewarded as the figures have spoken for themselves.
Numbers indicate the curve of novel coronavirus cases in California has effectively flattened overall. All but 11 of California's 58 counties have completed that process and have moved to Phase 3. The counties prohibited from moving beyond Stage 2 are: Alameda, Contra Costa, Imperial, Los Angeles, Marin, Monterey, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, and Tulare.
The decision to not include these counties arose purely from empirical facts and once the numbers show a decline, there will be further guidance issued by the state of California. Now, the state is gearing towards how to reach a new normal and bring some semblance of the ordinary back into our lives.
As the weather becomes warmer Californians are presented with tempting opportunities to hit the beaches, parks, and just generally step outside of their homes to connect with nature or socialize. Given that none of us have stepped foot inside beautysalons/hairsalons/barbershops for months now we can declare a beauty emergency on what transpired in regards to that during the quarantine. Even though we are strictly practicing social distancing, absence of hair salons and barbershops has led to major fashion faux-pas. For the non-DIY, un-savvy people everyday in quarantine seemed like they were a week away from taking the matters into their own hands. Everyone started offering voluntary haircuts/trims to their family members. As hair roots started growing out YouTube videos on home hair-dye jobs went viral. Some considered giving themselves bangs. The struggle that paled in comparison to the bigger picture (pandemic) suddenly saw the light of day and became very real. It felt timely when hair salons and barbershops reopened their doors in parts of California. However, the modification to this state's stay-at-home order does not allow for nail salons to reopen.
Governor Newsom had previously revealed the first known case of community spread of coronavirus in the state could potentially be traced back to a nail salon. Further caveats to this order are that gyms, movie theaters, and professional sports without live audiences (that are generally part of the Phase 3 reopening in a pandemic) are not allowed to reopen at this time. As with other sectors of the economy that have been allowed to reopen, hair salons will have to follow a new set of health and safety guidelines that include, but are not limited to:
- Requiring the use of face coverings for staff and customers
- Removing high-touch amenities like magazines, coffee makers from lobbies
- Frequent disinfecting of booths, stations and tools
- Contacting customers before appointments to ensure they aren't exhibiting symptoms
- Checking their temperature before treatment/service begins
- Staggering appointments to reduce crowding. As with other sectors of the economy that have been allowed to reopen, hair salons will have to follow a new set of health and safety guidelines.
When federal orders came before the Memorial Day weekend to reopen religious institutions and houses of worship, Newsom released a framework focusing on congregational spaces that were closed to the public as part of the lock-down. I have provided a paraphrased condensed version of the guidelines directly from the state with a focus on: distancing measures, including limits on the number of people attending a service, and protocols for disinfecting and cleaning, such as additional hand sanitizer stations and rules around regularly cleaning microphones and shared items. The state is calling for limiting attendance to 100 people or 25 percent of the building's capacity, whichever is lower. Social events such as potlucks, choir singing, and touching of high traffic areas such as pulpits, pews, altars, and donation boxes are prohibited. Face coverings are strongly recommended.
The plan also discourages passing around shared reading materials, offering plates, splitting of food, prayer books, cushions, and rugs between people.
Distancing guidelines include a recommendation to shorten the length of services and offering additional meeting times to spread out the number of attendees to avoid large gatherings. Handshakes, hugs and other forms of greetings with physical contact also are discouraged. This limit stays in effect for 21 days after the house of worship reopens, then conditions will be reviewed by health officials. If there are favorable results further guidance to lift restrictions will be issued. The statement posted on California’s COVID-19 response page states, "Consider modifying practices that are specific to particular faith traditions that might encourage the spread of COVID-19. Examples are discontinuing kissing of ritual objects, allowing rites to be performed by fewer people, avoiding the use of a common cup, offering communion in the hand instead of on the tongue, providing pre-packed communion items on chairs prior to service, etc."
On the surface it all looks very shiny and bright as we can carry on with our lives. Newsom has made this process very laissez-faire. Our fate has been placed in our own hands as the localities will be given the autonomy to move faster or slower than the state’s reopening timeline depending on their behavior. After these recent measures of moving into Phase 3 the counties are required to submit an accountability report complete with facts, figures, and observations from the freedom we have been given. If the results are not favorable the state can reinforce going back to Phase 2 or even Phase 1 depending on how severe the situation becomes. I sincerely hope and pray that we emerge with glowing results towards effectively flattening the curve to continue with safe and healthy reopening stages.
(Faiza Zia Khan holds a Master’s in Journalism degree from the University of British Columbia, Canada. She has collaborated with news media outlets including Global National and actively volunteers for several community investment projects for the Red Cross, United Way and the Breast Cancer Foundation)
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