Tuesday August 25, 2020 ~ LANGFORD, BC
by Mary Brooke, editor | Island Social Trends
Another hair salon in Langford has reported that a stylist with their bsuiness has tested positive for COVID-19.
The case at Twist Hair and Nail Salon in the Bear Mountain Resort in Langford (made public August 22) comes on the heels on a case at Chatters Hair Salon at the Westshore Town Centre on the other side of town (their case was made public August 21).
At both salons a stylist tested positive for the virus. According to an industry insider, at least one stylist at one salon also works at or does business with the other. This train of transmission is probably of interest to public health.
Opened, and closed:
Chatters cleaned for a day then re-opened (reportedly with approval from public health) but Twist closed yesterday and says it will remain closed until the second week of September to do cleaning and essentially regroup. Two weeks covers the 14-day period of self-isolation that is required when there has been exposure to the COVID-19 virus.
Twist posted their COVID news on Facebook and Instagram, saying that any customers with a booked appointment will be contacted, and also that anyone who might be affected (for having been in the salon during a determined period of time) will be directly contacted by “the BC Health Authority” (i.e. Island Health).
“We have been meticulous about sanitizing, hand washing, and physical distancing,” stated Twist on their Facebook page. They say that all staff and clients have been required to wear masks or face shields since they reopened after the shutdown in the initial phases of the pandemic.
Insisting on masks:
The Island Haircutting outlet in Sooke says they have been insisting that customers wear masks, and that some have refused. Those customers have been turned away. The shop owner is fine with that as safety of her staff and other customers comes first, she told Island Social Trends today.
Twist claims that “all staff/clients have been required to wear masks or face shields since we’ve reopened”. Their public notice says they had installed plexiglass at all nail desks and the front desk so we are confident that any exposure is minimal.”
Challenges to the personal service industry:
The personal services industry is obviously one sector of the economy and services to the public that can only be carried out in close proximity between people. In that respect, test-positive cases of COVID are not surprising.
The original public health order on personal services establishments in BC was issued by Provincial Health Officer Dr Bonnie Henry on March 17, 2020 as the province’s economy was shutting down, step by step. That order expired May 30, 2020. From there, WorkSafeBC produced guidelines for all industry sectors, including personal services which covers barbers, hairdressers, nail salons, aestheticians, and body artists.
The risk of COVID-19 spread is highlighted on the WorkSafe BC page for personal services as follows:
- The risk of person-to-person transmission is increased the closer you come to other people, the amount of time you spend near them, and the number of people you come near. Physical distancing measures help mitigate this risk.
- The risk of surface transmission is increased when many people contact same surface, and when those contacts happen in short intervals of time. Effective cleaning and hygiene practices help mitigate this risk.
