ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Gov. Larry Hogan is now allowing the state’s barbershops and salons to stay open to service essential personnel only during the coronavirus pandemic.
The guidance on the order now says that while barbershops and salons are required to generally stay closed, they can provide services to essential personnel under certain conditions.
The barber/salon, according to the order, may only provide services to customers on an appointment basis, and walk-ins are not allowed. Beauticians and barbers also can only have one customer in the establishment at a time.
The guidance also states that the services performed must be necessary for the essential worker to meet the grooming standards of their employer. The customer must provide written documentation of the employer's grooming standards.
"It is generally assumed that this enforcement recommendation will be used for military personnel, first responders and other essential workers required to maintain certain, well-documented grooming standards as part of their profession, or where ungroomed hair could pose a safety risk," the guidance states.
The new guidance also requires the customer and barber/salon staff to wear face coverings unless it would be impossible for the services to be performed with a face covering on.
After each customer, the barber/salon must clean and disinfect the area where services were performed per guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Maryland Department of Health, the guidance states.
The guidance requires the barber/salon to get telephone numbers for each customer for contact tracing should any staff of the barber/salon test positive for the coronavirus.
Hogan in March ordered all non-essential businesses in the state to close, including bars, restaurants, entertainment venues and other places where crowds could gather that are not critical to the infrastructure of day-to-day life.
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