Living outside lockdown: Some barbers, beauty shops still open amid coronavirus outbreak

In this March 26, 2020, Patrick Goodman cuts Keith Donaldson's hair at Creative Image barber shop in Columbia, SC. South Carolina's governor has not given a stay at home order closing non-essential businesses, but Columbia did pass an order, which will close Goodman's shop. (AP Photo /Jeffrey Collins). In this March 26, 2020, Patrick Goodman cuts Keith Donaldson's hair at Creative Image barber shop in Columbia, SC. South Carolina's governor has not given a stay at home order closing non-essential businesses, but Columbia did pass an order, which will close Goodman's shop. (AP Photo /Jeffrey Collins).

By JEFFREY COLLINS / Associated Press March 28, 2020 5 min read

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ELGIN, S.C. (AP) – With South Carolina’s first coronavirus hot spot just a short jaunt up the highway, Johellen Lee hadn’t been out for anything but groceries for nearly a month.

“I looked like a hag,” she said.

So she headed to see her best friend and hair stylist Erica Nealy at her beauty salon in Elgin – one of the businesses that local and state governments across the South are arguing about whether to keep open as they seek to limit the spread of COVID-19.

“This job is essential to me. It’s essential to buying my groceries and paying my bills,” said Nealy, wearing a disposable mask and gloves – one pink and one black – after spraying the salon chair with a bleach solution for her next customer Friday.