What Israel got right on COVID-19
Eliran Ekster squints through a protective visor as he shears off my bedraggled locks, taking care to work around the straps of my surgical mask.
It is a blazing hot spring afternoon in Jerusalem, where I am enjoying a forbidden fruit in the age of coronavirus — a haircut.
While the closure of barber shops elsewhere is transforming other nations into a gaggle of cavemen, hairdressers in Israel are reopening this week as its tough lockdown measures are gradually scaled back.
With only 208 deaths and 15,000 cases in a population of eight million, the Jewish state appears to have weathered coronavirus far better than other Middle Eastern nations.
The Israeli government suspended all flights from China, the epicentre of the outbreak, on Jan. 30 and announced a de facto shutdown of all its borders in early March. It also initially banned Israelis from moving beyond a 100- yard radius of their home, with exceptions for buying essential supplies and emergencies.
This week, as the rate of infection began to plateau, ministers announced the reopening of schools, hardware stores and some hotels, among other businesses.
However, there are concerns that the decision to partially reopen the Israeli economy after just a few weeks of lockdown may lead to a “second wave” of the virus.
After closing his doors for more than a month, business is now booming for Ekster as he sets to work fixing botched, self- inflicted haircuts.
“People have been sending me pictures and some of them are really bad,” the 35- year- old chuckles, taking out his phone to show a photograph of a young man with a lopsided mohawk.
But even after lifting some lockdown measures in Israel, everyday tasks such as getting a haircut can be a cumbersome affair. Customers must arrive at Ekster’s salon wearing a surgical mask and plastic gloves. As they enter the salon, their temperature is taken and then they must rub their gloved hands with antibacterial lotion.
And the masks must stay on during the haircut, which makes scissoring around the ears particularly difficult, while a beard trim is out of the question.
“As for cutting women’s hair, it’s almost impossible,” Ekster said.
With no more than three people allowed in the salon, makeshift waiting rooms have been set up outside, while Israeli inspectors prowl the high street looking for non- compliant businesses.
Ekster had to apply for a permit before reopening, and spent 1,500 shekels ($ 598) on a sterilization machine for his combs and scissors.
“It wasn’t so bad for me, because my business is clients, not goods — I knew they would come back ( after lockdown),” he says. “But the restaurants and clubs have been hit really hard and some have already closed.”
The complicated setup offers some insight into how hair salons and barber shops may be able to reopen in the U. K. once the pandemic is under control.
Part of Israel’s success in stemming the spread of the virus may be down to a controversial decision to track the movements of suspected coronavirus patients using their mobile phones.
“We prevented many terror attacks with the tools that are now dealing with this,” Arik Brabbing, a former Shin Bet officer, told The Daily Telegraph.
However, Israel ’ s supreme court halted the emergency powers this week amid privacy concerns.