An upstate New York barber who cut hair over the last few weeks despite the state’s coronavirus restrictions has reportedly tested positive for the illness, health officials said Wednesday.
The infected worker was running a barbershop on Broadway in the city of Kingston, Ulster County health commissioner Dr. Carol Smith told the Daily Freeman.
Smith did not identify the sick barber or the barbershop, but according to the report, there are at least four barbershops on Broadway.
“Learning that a barbershop has been operating illicitly for weeks with a COVID-19-positive employee is extraordinarily disheartening,” Smith told the newspaper in a statement.
Barbershops across the state have been barred from operating since March 22, when Gov. Andrew Cuomo implemented sweeping measures to shut down all non-essential businesses.
“As much as we would all like to go out and get a professional haircut, this kind of direct contact has the potential to dramatically spread this virus throughout our community and beyond,” Smith said.
The county health commissioner urged anyone who got a haircut in Kingston over the past three weeks to contact their doctors and possibly get tested for the virus.
