A volunteer barber cuts a boy's hair at a community in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality, Feb. 16, 2020. Since the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, most barbershops have been closed. A community in Beibei District of Chongqing organized a team of volunteer barbers to provide free haircuts for its residents. (Xinhua/Liu Chan)
To avoid any possible transmission of the novel coronavirus, hair salons are required to only serve customers who make reservations in advance and hairdressers must wear masks while working.
BEIJING, Feb. 24 (Xinhua) -- Over 100 hair salons have opened their doors in Beijing amid the novel coronavirus epidemic as Monday marks Longtaitou Day -- a traditional day for a new haircut after the Spring Festival holiday.
The day of Longtaitou, which literally means "dragon raises head", falls on the second day of the second lunar month. It is a traditionally busy day for hair salons as many Chinese believe that a new hairdo on that day will bring good luck, or one prior to that day will usher in bad luck.
At least 105 hair salons in Beijing have begun accepting customers, according to the Beijing Hairdressing and Beauty Association, adding that more will open in the next few days.
However, the concern about possible coronavirus infection remains prevalent among the public. Beijing earlier on Saturday rolled out guidelines for barbershops to take prevention and control measures to avoid infection.
According to the guidelines, hair salons should only serve customers who make reservations in advance and hairdressers should wear masks while working.
Barbershops should establish a daily health monitoring system for employees and customers. The service area of each seat should be no less than 2.5 square meters and a distance of at least 1.5 meters should be kept between the seats, it added. ■
