Walk-in customers are prohibited, masks are required and the number of people allowed in the business is restricted under a list of 17 proposed regulations for barbershop and beauty salon operators presented by Mayor George Flaggs Jr.

The regulations were announced at a livestreamed Wednesday night town hall meeting held by Flaggs. They are part of his plan to slowly remove the COVID-19 restrictions of an emergency declaration approved March 25 by the Board of Mayor and Aldermen out of concern for the COVID-19 virus.

Under the regulations, business owners must screen and evaluate customers and employees who exhibit signs of the illness, such as fever, cough or shortness of breath and require professionals who exhibit signs of illness to not report to work or seek medical attention.

The regulations, he said, are not mandatory, “all we do is encourage you to do these things. And if you do these things, you will minimize the threat and you will minimize the cases.”

“These measures that I’ve got for the restaurants and what I’ve got for the beauty salons I think will work,” he said. “These are minimum standards. There’s nothing to stop you from going beyond these standards if you want to go back and open your business.”

Other regulations include:

• Prohibit gatherings of customers and professionals during working hours.

“That means there’s no more sitting around in the lobby and there’s no reception area,” Flaggs said. He said one shop owner said they planned to take one customer at a time and lock the business’ door until they were finished with the customer.

• All customers and professionals must wear a mask at all times.
• All professionals must wear an apron, smock or cape over their clothes at all times. The apron, smock or cape should be changed between customers.

“This is to protect your clothes,” he said, “Because your clothes can get contaminated; the disease will go to your clothes. This is very important.”

• Customers must wash or sanitize hands on entering the business.
• Customers must wait in their car or outside until the professional is ready for them. They should not be any inside waiting areas.

“No more of that for 30 days,” Flaggs said, “Please, no more. No more waiting in your barbershop or your beauty shop.”

• If salon chairs cannot be spaced 6 feet apart, professionals should stagger scheduling customers so customers never sit closer than 6 feet to each other.

Flagg asked shop owners should be considerate of the elderly and customers with health problems and set schedules with them in mind.

• Professionals should disinfect all non-porous implements before each use and follow infection control procedures mandated by respective licensing boards.
• Professionals should clean and disinfect all chairs, headrests, doorknobs, countertops and bathrooms between customers.
• Massage and nail professionals should wear new gloves for each customer.
• Each professional should keep a daily log of customers with contact information.
• There should not be any walk-in customers without an appointment.
• To the extent possible, suspend the use of personal identification numbers pads, PIN entry devices, electronic signature capture, and other credit card receipt signature requirements to the extent such suspension is permitted by agreements with credit card companies and credit agencies.
• No more than 10 people — including employees — should be inside the business at any one time.

social distancing should be practiced.

• Hours of operation should be between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m.