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KUALA LUMPUR: When the economy revived during the Recovery Movement Control Order (RMCO) last year, hair salons, hair salons and hair salons were among the last sectors to receive the green light to resume activities.
This was due to the fact that it was difficult to comply with the physical distancing rule stipulated by the Ministry of Health, since their work involves physical contact with people and, therefore, increased the risk of infection by Covid-19.
Ironically, the hair and beauty care sector, which contributed RM13.5 billion a year to the nation’s gross domestic product, did not create any new Covid-19 clusters after business was resumed as of 10 of June.
Just when business was on the mend, sadly history repeated itself and the 16,728 registered hair salon companies in the country, employing some 74,500 workers, had to close again following the implementation of MCO 2.0 on January 13.
Gabungan Pendandan Rambut Malaysia representative Bambang Sutrisno Soteto said that around 5,800 barber shops and hair salons have closed since the first MCO was applied last year.
Concerned that many more will be forced to close, the association has asked the Ministry of Industry and International Trade (Miti) to allow its members to operate again.
“Previously, we demonstrated that we comply with the conditions established by the authorities since no clusters emerged from this sector. We are sure that this time we can do the same ”, he said.
Among the rules established by the government for those who provide such services are that staff must be equipped with masks, masks and personal protective equipment, the physical distance between clients must be at least two meters and the number of clients allowed in The facilities should be limited, depending on the floor area.
Meanwhile, the president of the Malaysian Spa Association (Amspa), Jeanette Tembakau, is also eager for the spa industry to come to an end if they are not given permission to operate.
To date, she estimates that 60 spas have closed because they couldn’t afford operating cost, and the business is hitting a record low.
“We emphasize cleanliness and adherence to SOPs as we work. We only allow two clients in a room and the beds are placed far from each other.
“We also make sure that the spa therapists go through SOP training online,” he said.
He added that spa services can be considered as an essential service since its function is related to health, especially an effective therapy to reduce stress.
“Today, people are under a lot of stress, especially when they are stuck at home and told to work from home. Less movement causes little energy and fatigue, ”he said, adding that there are 400 members registered with Amspa.
