I should probably think about renaming these now we are no longer in social isolation. Week 20 though, twenty weeks since the drawbridge got completely pulled up and just a few weeks since it slowly began to lower again.
Unless you’re in the beauty industry that is. For this week, here in England, we had been told that the beauty industry would be able to open fully on August 1st. Nails, hair and massages had been allowed but anything on the face was still banned so beauty clinics had been busy making sure they complied with all the guidelines, buying PPE and training staff ready for Saturday morning. And then Boris announced on Friday that the brakes would have to be put on the industry (and with cinema and casino opening) and reopening delayed because there had been spikes around the country.
This has plunged thousands of people working in the industry (an industry lest we forget that is worth £28 billion to the UK economy a year) into chaos. People unable to return to work, yet having spent money on PPE and training, now seriously wondering if they would be able to keep a roof over their heads by the end of the month. This all whilst pubs are open.
I really dont understand how an industry that is all about cleanliness and hygiene is deemed a risk. It makes zero sense.
It makes even less sense when you see that men can get a beard trim and have their eyebrows threaded, but women aren’t able to have either. Photos are also coming out where male barbers aren’t even wearing PPE whilst giving these treatments, whilst female beauticians who have bought PPE are being denied the ability to wear it. The hypocrisy being displayed by the government over this is hard to stomach and smacks of misogyny to me.
I had my nails done on Saturday morning and Beckie who does them had been forced to cancel 18 eyebrow clients for just that day, and she was booked solidly for the next two weeks. The suggestion when Boris pulled up the drawbridge was that it would be at least August 15th before clinics could open and actually there is no certainty that it will happen then either.
It is a shambles to be honest. Places that are clearly the problem, ie pubs, are open and spikes are happening in several parts of the country but nobody is suggesting the closing of pubs just yet. I really don’t get it and the more I think about it the more angry I get.
In good news though the new Eat Out to Help Out campaign has kicked off (not that we have made use of it yet). The idea is that the Government will subsidise a meal, or hot drinks, eaten in a restaurant on Monday to Wednesday throughout August. It is up to £10 and it means that many places are allowing people to eat for half price and will encourage many people to return to the High Street for food which is a great boost to the hospitality industry.
Will you be trying it?
Photo courtesy of Unsplash