This archive report was first published on 19 May 2020.
Italy has officially lost over 32,000 people to the coronavirus, but the real toll is considered much higher.
On Monday, the country allowed unlimited travel within individual regions and businesses opened up across most of the country in an effort to revive an economy that is estimated to shrink this year by at least 8 percent, the largest drop since World War II.
For many Italians, the reopening of hair salons and beauty parlors was a welcome respite from the long, destabilizing months of lockdown.
Lucilla Vettraino, 78, was one of the first in line at her hair salon in Rome, where she had washed, colored, and color-sprayed her hair at home during the lockdown.
“I look like a witch with this hair!” she exclaimed, holding up strands the color of Campari.
Roberto Papa, secretary general of Confestetica, an association that represents nearly 20,000 of Italy’s 35,000 beauticians, said his members had packed agendas, with manicures, pedicures, and body waxing most in demand.
“Summer,” he said, referring to the busy season ahead.
But many beauticians remained worried about the longer-term outlook, leading Confestetica to lobby lawmakers to consider their treatments as “essential, not superfluous” in order to reduce a tax on the services by half.
“They reflect people’s needs,” he said.
As the country slowly returns to normal, the reopening of hair salons and beauty parlors is a small but significant step towards healing and recovery.
