Experts: Here’s how to get a haircut during the coronavirus pandemic
In the months since salons and barbershops shut their doors due to the coronavirus pandemic, some people have caved, spontaneously snipping their hair until it looked passable for a Zoom call.
Others thoughtfully watched YouTube tutorials, ordered professional-grade equipment off Amazon and tried to copy experts.
And a few (including this writer) decided to just avoid mirrors like a contagious disease.
But now hair salons are operational in all but two states — California and Hawaii — with partial openings, according to hair expert website Behind The Chair, leaving the shaggier among us wondering: How safe is it to get a trim?
As the coronavirus, which causes the disease COVID-19, is mostly transmitted via close contact, public health experts advise against prolonged time with people outside of your family, especially indoors. But epidemiologists say that proper protective equipment and other precautions can ensure the virus is not transmitted if you need to be near others.
For instance, mask-wearing was credited by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for two cases where infected hair stylists did not pass on the coronavirus to their clients — a promising sign for people harried about the risk of transmission.
Even House Speaker Nancy Pelosi got her hair done at a salon in San Francisco. But when surveillance video released Monday revealed she went maskless after her shampoo and rinse, Pelosi was in hot water.
“I don't wear a mask when I'm washing my hair,” Pelosi said in a press briefing to respond to the backlash, mainly from conservatives. “Do you wear a mask when you're washing your hair? I always have a mask.”
Pelosi taking her mask off is contradictory to best practices, according to Erin Bromage, a biology professor at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth who authored a blog post that garnered millions of views about the coronavirus transmission risks associated with everyday activities.
You must wear a mask at all times when you are in the salon chair, Bromage said, adding that it's possible to hold your mask to your face while your hair is washed or cut.
“There are plenty of ways to do this but taking a mask off and being indoors for an extended period is the best way to become infected,” he said.
Out of 139 people who visited two Missouri stylists in May who later tested positive for the coronavirus, no one contracted COVID-19 symptoms, according to a CDC study in July. The findings indicated that the city and businesses' masking policies worked effectively, the authors wrote.
Bromage said his family resumed getting haircuts in early June, with the family going together to reduce the risk. Their hairdresser offers her services outdoors, but Bromage said he would trust being inside a salon if there are few people and doors and windows open for ventilation.