MUSCAT: The phone calls from eager customers never stopped ringing at Relax Salon soon ever since the Supreme Committee allowed barbershops to reopen last Wednesday.

For five months, all barbershops and beauty parlours had closed doors as the coronavirus snowballed into a public health crisis. “My phone never stopped ringing ever since the authorities gave the green light to reopen and customers wanted to know when we would open the shop,” said Erkan who has been running the Relax Salon in Al Ghubrah.

While some shops are still busy sanitising the area as the authorities have laid-out strict precautionary measures, Erkan opened the shop on Wednesday itself following all guidelines. “We are so happy to see customers back in shop and at the same time get a sense of normalcy,” Erkan who has been running the shop with his brother Nesim said.

Erkan who hails from Turkey said they are receiving multiple calls on a daily basis for people to schedule haircut appointments.

“We’re booked solid and they are just eager to get their haircut it’s been a long time. We’re getting at least fifteen to twenty calls per day for people that want haircuts. And we can’t get them in at a time like before of the strict social distancing measures in place so we are only doing appointments,” Erkan said.

At Relax Salon, staff check the temperature of the customer and take their information before the services begin, while the barbers wear PPE kit including face shield to ensure the customers are safeguarded. The normal clean up now will include sanitizing each piece of equipment before another customer comes in.

The mandated closure has been difficult for Erkan. “We had five hair stylists and due to the financial difficulty in managing the team because of the closure, we had to let go all of them. We really hope to get them all back once the business gets to normal,” he said.

“The moment we closed, I was talking to my brother Nesim, and I said, ‘We will reopen. I don’t know when, but when we do it’s not going to be the same again. This is a new normal life and we need to get used to this. We want to make sure we keep everyone healthy and let’s hope this virus will go away soon,” Erkan added.