People working in beauty parlours and barbershops across the city have been asked to wear face masks and hand gloves while attending to their customers, as a precaution against the spread of swine flu. The Health Department of the Doha Municipality recently issued a circular to all such outlets in this regard. The move apparently is intended to protect their staff as well as the customers from a possible H1N1 infection. Beauty parlours and barbershops can pose a potential threat as far as the disease is concerned, since the virus spreads through breathing and close contacts. Beauticians and barbers have also been asked to wash their hands using antiseptic lotions before and after they attend to a customer. It is also mandatory for them to wear their special dress while on duty. Inspectors from the Municipality have been conducting frequent visits to these outlets to ensure that the workers abide by the new guidelines. Those violating the rule will face penalties, warns the Municipality. Sources from some beauty salons and barbershops in the city told this newspaper yesterday that they have stocked masks and gloves and had been using them following the instructions from Municipality. “We got the circular about a week ago. Our beauticians have already been using gloves while attending to the customers and now they have started using masks as well. However, we have not come across any customer with high fever or flu like symptoms. Such people normally avoid visiting a beauty salon,” said sources from a leading outlet in Doha. “They (the inspectors) visit our outlet three or four times in a month to check if we follow the instructions,” added the sources. Manager of a barbershop in the Old Airport area said they had also been told about the rule by the Municipal inspectors. “We have stocked enough masks and gloves and we use them while attending to such customers who come with coughing, sneezing and other flu like symptoms. However, we don’t always use the masks since some customers may not like it. They would think that we are considering them as patients,” he said. “We change the masks quite frequently. Some customers also ask for masks for themselves and we provide them masks free of charge,” he added. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=August2009&file=Local_News2009083024010.xml

Follow us on our social media channels: @ILQlive @ILQlive @ILoveQtr ILoveQatar