Many Oregonians can’t stand what’s happening to them.
They’re becoming increasingly hirsute. Their manes are a mess.
The reason, of course, is that hair salons and barber shops are among the many businesses that have been shut down in response to the coronavirus pandemic.
And now more than 29,000 Oregonians are pushing for a compromise between vanity and the common good.
That’s how many people have signed on to a MoveOn.org petition to Gov. Kate Brown that seeks to allow “licensed beauty professionals to perform beauty services privately with one client in the salon/per stylist at a time.”
The petition, created by a woman named Kara Owen, claims that a stylist working “while wearing a mask and gloves poses little to no risk of spreading the virus, as compared to 20 or more people in a grocery store or 10-plus people at restaurants picking up food.” Owen insists the “survival of beauty professionals” is at stake. “We are facing a grave financial hardship.”
The Oregonian/OregonLive asked the governor’s office if Gov. Brown would consider allowing hair stylists to see clients in the manner suggested in the petition. Late Friday afternoon, Brown’s press secretary Liz Merah sent the following response:
“The Governor understands that these are difficult times and, through no fault of their own, many Oregonians have lost jobs, closed businesses, and found themselves in a tough place trying to pay bills and make ends meet. We also know that social distancing is working. The Governor credits the incredible sacrifices Oregonians have made in complying with social distancing measures early in our outbreak as a key contributor in our latest projections.
“This week, the Governor introduced a framework for reopening Oregon. Her Medical Advisory Panel will be involved in reviewing the public health components of decisions related to the lifting of various social distancing orders. This is not a process that will happen overnight or statewide all at once. Each decision will be carefully weighed and made in consultation with local leaders, businesses, and workers to make sure policies are implemented correctly, with safeguards in place to protect the public health. As part of this process, we will be engaging with leaders from different business sectors – for example, personal services – on the public health criteria for the gradual reopening of businesses in Oregon. Ultimately, health outcomes will be the metric guiding decisions to reopen — and we will only reopen Oregon if the data shows we can do so without jeopardizing public health.”
The webpage for the MoveOn.org petition gives an indication of the difficulties many hair stylists in Oregon are facing, with commenters pleading for relief from the governor’s emergency stay-at-home order, which has been in place since March 23 and does not have an end date.
“I own my own business and this shutdown has been devastating,” stated one stylist. “We are capable of sanitation and distancing … Please let us return to work!”
Another pointed out that when official restrictions are lifted, hair stylists will be overwhelmed because “every single client will be desperate!”
In fact, people are already desperate.
Panic-buying over the past couple of weeks has emptied store shelves of home-care beauty products. During the first week of April, sales of hair clippers reportedly jumped by 166%, and hair-color products by 23%.
Some Oregonians are turning to homemade buzzcuts and hyper-colorful dye jobs, recognizing that such extreme measures are necessary without professionals to turn to. Others are less sanguine; a few hair stylists say they have clients who’ve tried to convince them to make house calls in contravention of the stay-at-home order.
When she rolled out her framework for reopening the economy this week, Gov. Brown refused to offer a timeline, saying she needs to feel confident that active coronavirus cases are definitively declining and that testing- and contact-tracing capabilities have increased.
-- Douglas Perry
This article was originally published by The Oregonian/OregonLive, one of more than a dozen news organizations throughout the state sharing their coverage of the novel coronavirus outbreak to help inform Oregonians about this evolving health issue.
