ISLAMABAD              -           In light of the outbreak of COVID-19, perhaps the most badly affected businesses have been those that are service-based. Though acknowledging that the hairdressing industry is a high-risk business in light of the novel coronavirus outbreak, the government cannot turn a blind eye to the industry.

The hair and beauty industry generates a large amount of revenue for the nation and the lack of government support will mean that businesses can only survive on savings, and personal investments of entrepreneurs, for so long. The salons have been closed from the 19th of March till today. It has now been four months since the closure of business for their industry. The salon owners in Pakistan would like an open dialogue to exist between the government, with a timeline as to when they will be allowed to open; failing which they will have no choice but to open salons, the only other option being closure of hundreds of salons. Another concern regarding this is that many women from low-income families, have used this skill to be able to become breadwinners of their families. The prolonged closure of salons & spas around the country will result not only in a massive unemployment spike, and will therefore increase the economic burden already felt by many households.