Covid 19 coronavirus: How will hairdressers operate under level 2?

While hairdressers are hoping to be able to open under level 2, how could that happen if the 1 metre physical distancing in a controlled environment rule remains? Image / Getty Images

Over the course of just a few weeks, we have become a nation of bad hair: once vibrant blondes now sport mince-and-cheese shades of regrowth and men's overgrown mops have been hacked to sprigs - often by overzealous partners.

But as New Zealand looks to move to level 2, are we going to be able to visit our hairdressers to restore our Hagrid 'dos to something closer to a Jason Momoa mane?

Are you hanging out to restore your hair to something a little more tamed? Photos / Supplied, Getty Images

Hairdressers hope to be able to open under level 2, but one of the major questions surrounds the social distancing rule of 1 metre maintained between people in controlled environments like schools and workplaces.

Today the Epidemic Response Committee has heard from Hair and Beauty Training Organisation chairwoman, Kay Nelson, who said about 12,000 workers have been affected by the lockdown.

Nelson says the impact has been severe. some salons have lost up to $200,000 of revenue in the past seven weeks. Some city salons have also faced covering $10,000 a week in rent while having to remain closed, generating no revenue.

She says if hairdressers and barbers can't return to work soon, 25 to 30 per cent of businesses are expected to fold and, she says, compared with the same time last year, at least five times the number of apprentices have already been made redundant.

for the hair and beauty industry in particular, the challenge is to operate under social distancing guidelines.

Nelson pointed out the industry, which has an average age of 26 and is predominantly a workforce of women, can't work unless "they are allowed to work properly, offering a full service to clients".

Nelson said that the organisation is seeking clear instructions on operating in level 2 and has "proactively submitted best practice guidelines to WorkSafe for approval".

The industry association, in conjunction with L'Oreal, has "put forward opening guidelines with best practice embedded into it so WorkSafe can understand and see what is happening elsewhere", she said of looking overseas for safe operating models during the pandemic.

Asked by Dr Shane Reti what the single most important thing that the government could do for the industry is, Nelson said retaining wage subsidies for apprentices, to keep them in work, is crucial for "future proofing the industry".

Nelson says when the wage subsidies finish, apprentices and employees will face further redundancies, noting a number already have lost jobs under levels 3 and 4.

National MP Nikki Kaye also highlighted the role the grooming industry can have on people's wellbeing and questioned what the social impact might be of the government not being more permissive to this type of service.

"Does the government understand the importance of grooming on mental health?"

Nelson said no, and that "a lot of us don't until it's gone. It's not just the government.

"People see going to the barber, the hairdresser as frivolous but it's not just about grooming - visiting is, in some ways, social therapy. Going to a barber, the guy's whole appointment, they're not just getting their hair cut, they're chatting to another guy.

"We go to work to make people feel fabulous. Not many people can say that."