Turkey’s Health Ministry has updated a pandemic guideline for barbershops and hair salons, urging the absence of mobile phones while serving customers and minimum speaking inside salons, the Hürriyet Daily News reported.
According to the updated guideline released Friday, only the barber and the customer should be in a barbershop, and visitors not receiving any service will not be allowed in.
Staff and customers should not talk at all, and if they speak, they should do so quietly, reducing the transmission of the virus in the air.
There will be additional rules for beauty salons, according to the guideline.
Employees must leave their mobile phones in changing rooms before interacting with customers, while handshakes are completely forbidden.
To avoid crowding in salons and shops, customers will be seen only by appointment, and children and companions will not be allowed inside.
“There must be a 20-minute break between appointments so that employees can clean and disinfect the shops and salons,” the ministry said in a statement.
Barbershops and beauty salons were among the first businesses to open in early May as Turkey gradually emerged from stay-at-home orders and weekend lockdowns.
In markets and supermarkets, checkout stations will be cleaned with detergent at least three times a day.
Gloves will only be recommended for workers in the meat and produce sections.
“They will only touch meat and produce with gloves,” the statement added.
Turkey has more than 200,000 coronavirus cases, and a death toll of 5,300 according to the health ministry.