‘Me have bills to pay’ - Elderly barber still working despite coronavirus restrictions
A 74-year-old barber, Tyrell Williams, who operates his business on Red Hills Road in St Andrew, said it is rather difficult for him to adhere to the stay-at-home orders since he has no other means of survival.
"I have to come out because me have bills and rent to pay, me have to finance myself," Williams told THE STAR. "Me get two daughter and one son but none of them nuh deh here, they are in the States and them send stuff for and me wife sometime, but me still have to look it for myself."
When asked if he is aware that he is among the most vulnerable for contracting the virus, he replied with a swift "Me know!"
He added that he makes it a priority to maintain social distancing and regular sanitation practices.
"I know that I'm not supposed to be out here but I don't go in any crowd, only in the barber shop, and is only one person me allow inside at a time. When dem come, me spray them hand. Some of them say 'Barber, me nuh have no virus enuh', but me still spray them," Williams told THE STAR.
He, however, has an issue with wearing a mask because it makes him uncomfortable.
"Me have masks in my shop but me nuh wear it because me feel like me a go dead when me have it on, me feel like it a stifle me," he said.
Under the Disaster Risk Management Act, persons 70 years and older have been ordered to stay indoors. This is geared towards protecting that section of the population which has the greatest risk of contracting COVID. The orders also require that no more than two persons are to be waiting in a barber shop at any point.
Williams said that he has grown to have a level of trust for his customers.
"Those who come in, I know that they don't have the virus. Me nuh trim no careless boy. A respectable man me trim, doctor, police and lawyer," he said. "Me trust them and them trust me. My customers need me so me affi come out, because even one of my customer who is deacon call me and me come trim him."
Like many others, Williams is also experiencing a decline in customers because of COVID-19.
"Well, me lose a lot of customers enuh. I have a lot of customers but it is only the Corporate Area people come to me now. Sometime for the whole day, a one or two me get. It's not like before, business just slow up bad. The money I'm making now is very low because I have to go in early. Normally before this thing, me deh pon the road until late," Williams said.