Coronavirus: Hair scare for city’s high society set

Sydney’s socialite set nervous after hairdresser Joh Bailey’s salon declared a Covid-19 exposure site.

Joh Bailey hairdressers in Double Bay is an exposure site. Picture: Justin Lloyd.

A nervous tremor rippled through Sydney’s socialite set when celebrity hairdresser Joh Bailey’s salon in Double Bay was declared a Covid-19 exposure site, as the surging number of cases in NSW sparked stringent new restrictions across the state.

Health authorities were scrambling to find missing links as the Bondi cluster grew to 31, as some states closed their borders to NSW and New Zealand paused quarantine-free travel to the state.

The high-profile Joh Bailey closed his doors on Wednesday, after NSW Health informed staff an infectious case attended his exclusive Double Bay salon on Sunday. The salon, which spans two floors, has long been a drawcard for royalty and celebrities, including Princess Diana, Cate Blanchett, Miranda Kerr, Elle Macpherson and Kylie Minogue.

Commuters at Central station chec on passengers over mandatory mask ruling. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Following a Covid-19 test on Wednesday, Mr Bailey is isolating at his house in Bowral, where he is contacting clients to calm nerves and reschedule appointments.

“We’ve both been reaching out to clients to reassure them, and received positive messages of support in return,” salon manager Marilyn Koch told The Australian. “We would feel upset if we’d done the wrong thing. But since the beginning of the pandemic we have been very vigilant and observed everything from QR codes and social distancing … We even started wearing masks before we had to.”

A slew of new restrictions and exposure sites have plunged small businesses across Sydney back into a state of limbo, as customers, workers and tourists look to avoid busy shopping strips and crowded workplaces following the latest surge in infections.

On Wednesday afternoon, NSW police were out in force across the metropolitan Sydney area, enforcing mask wearing and social distancing rules.

Deep cleaners commence work at St Charles Catholic Primary School at Waverly in Sydney. Picture: NCA NewsWire/Joel Carrett

In Bondi, cafes, restaurants and pubs struggled to attract customers, as normally busy streets turned to a trickle of visitors walking along the foreshore.

“We’ve already seen a big impact in the last week, since the first infection,” said Donato Salomone, co-owner of Cali Press. “We’ve dealt with this before and had JobKeeper – which was very helpful for us – but if we go into a lockdown there will be a massive impact and we might need to look into more supports.”

The popular cafe chain of 15 establishments across Sydney has been hit worst at its city and Bondi sites, and Mr Salomone said “obviously people are being more cautious because of new cases”.

“Customer numbers have been down about 30 per cent in the last four days and it’s hard to see how it will pick up if there’s more restrictions.”

Contact tracers are working urgently on an emerging cluster in southwest Sydney after a birthday party in West Hoxton – where eight of 13 new cases were detected – was deemed a “super spreader” event by NSW chief health officer Kerry Chant. A previously reported case who contracted the virus while at work in Bondi Junction was at the party, which hosted approximately 30 guests.

“Under my definition, I certainly would say the party was a super spreader,” Dr Chant said, noting it was “very important not to label individuals as super spreaders”.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian said four remaining cases were all in close proximity to each other, giving hope they could be linked, but health authorities are still ­urgently investigating the source.