With salons and beauty parlours ordered to close in B.C. to help limit the spread of the novel coronavirus pandemic, many families have resorted to cutting their own hair while foregoing other services.
But some hairdressers in the Metro Vancouver area are continuing to advertise on Craigslist, offering to come to people’s homes to provide trims and other barber services. Others are asking clients to come to their homes.
“Stuck at home got you missing your fresh fades? I got you covered,” one ad reads from a barber based in North Vancouver.
“My shop is closed so I’m cutting from home,” says another in Coquitlam. “Gotta set up in my garage. It’s clean and warm.”
Another Coquitlam-based barber near Lougheed Mall promises his home is “covid-free lol.”
“At times like this, we need to help each other out!” the ad reads.
A Craigslist advertiser contacted by Global News said he had four appointments last week, but assured that he only cuts outdoors while wearing a mask and a faceshield.
It’s not just hairdressers, either: ads on the site include people offering at-home Botox injections and lip fillers, tattoos and even personal training.
Provincial health officer Dr. Bonnie Henry ordered all personal service businesses to shut down on March 21, including salons, tattoo parlours, spas and other spaces where personal contact “cannot be avoided.”
Public Safety Minister Mike Farnworth said Sunday that when the order came down for those businesses to close, “that meant all of them, including the ones at home.”
Farnworth said any business or practitioner caught violating the order could face a visit from a bylaw officer, which could result in anything from a warning or a fine. Those with business licences could also see that licence get revoked, he said.
“A lot of times it’s dealt with a warning, and often that’s all that’s required,” he said. “But in persistent cases, those people could be ticketed and they could be fined.
“We’re going to get through this. Stay home, follow the orders.”