Coronavirus: beauty treatment rush before Hong Kong government’s two-week closure order kicks in
- Demand surges in Hong Kong for salon services before 14-day closure order takes effect on Friday under anti-contagion regulations
- Pandemic hits beauty business hard as industry pins hopes on relief measures under HK$137.5 billion fund
Hongkongers rushed to beauty parlours on Thursday ahead of their two-week closure to prevent the spread of Covid-19 as the industry braced for the financial impact of the shutdown.
Salons report a surge in demand before the suspension of beauty, massage and tattoo businesses takes effect on Friday under an expansion of the government’s 14-day ban on the operation of leisure and recreation venues.
Aphena Chiu, the owner of Rejuvena de Beauté in Hung Hom, said she had more than 10 clients on Thursday, twice as many as usual, who wanted facial, body, eyelash and other treatments.
Hong Kong to close beauty and massage parlours amid Covid-19 spread
“So many of them want to come, but we have to close according to the [government] policy. So they either book today or April 24, immediately after we reopen. We are fully booked on the 24th as well,” Chiu said.
It was announced on Wednesday that beauty parlours would be added to the list of venues that must close for 14 days after three of the establishments were linked to coronavirus infections.
The government also extended to April 23 its social-distancing rules, which include barring more than four people from gathering in public.
A branch in Jordan of the Kinly International Medical Beauty chain, which specialises in eye microplastics, also reported more client appointments.
The company’s customer services said 10 consultations were booked in on Thursday, double the typical daily figure.
All therapists at Glow Spa & Salon in Central were also fully booked for the day and some appointments were brought forward from the weekend, according to its owner Sioban Guilfoyle.
“Things like laser treatments that need to be done on a schedule, they’re the most popular. The large majority of people who are coming in are after those treatments that are time-sensitive,” Guilfoyle said.
Guilfoyle said: “We are asking staff to, obviously, stay home and they’ll be on full salary, until I get a better understanding of some of the measures that were announced by Carrie Lam.
“We won’t be standing staff down or letting them go until we have a better understanding of what’s happening because that’s a little bit ambiguous at the moment.
“Financially, we have seen a significant downturn in our business over the past two to three months. Probably it would be in the region of between 35 to 60 per cent.”
On her workforce, Chiu said: “I will try to treat them as good as I can. But if the situation continues like it is, I’m not sure.”
Joseph Ho, chief supervisor of the Cosmetic and Perfumery Association of Hong Kong, whose members include owners of beauty salons, said businesses did not want to close and feared the impression the order was giving customers about the industry’s hygiene standards.
Ho said while the 40,000 employees in the beauty industry affected by the suspension of beauty businesses would have access to subsidy schemes, the sector’s self-employed such as make-up artists and beauty therapists were excluded.
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Another subsidy unveiled under the HK$137.5 billion fund, is a HK$21 billion pot to support sectors including transport, tourism, aviation, and restaurants.
Aside from the wage subsidy scheme, beauty parlour operators are entitled to between HK$30,000 and HK$100,000 in financial relief, depending on the size of the businesses, while each chain operation can access HK$3 million. The relief will benefit about 7,000 beauty parlours.
