Ugly side of COVID-19: Customers pressure Geraldton beautician to break law

A Geraldton beautician says she is frustrated by requests to perform illegal services, despite having closed her business due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Brooke Harding said she had received numerous requests from friends, clients and people she had never met for services “on the sly”. “It’s very frustrating and I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t want to open the messages,” she said. Miss Harding said offering secret beauty services would put her family, her clients’ families and the broader community at risk. She is calling for all beauticians to “do the right thing and knuckle it out” so everyone can get back to work sooner. Miss Harding worked from home for about a year before opening a shopfront on Marine Terrace in November. She had to close down her business on March 25 due to Government restrictions because she only provides beauty services and does not sell retail products. On Miss Harding’s last day of business, she treated about two weeks worth of clients, putting in a 14-hour day. Beauty therapy is a close-contact service and has been banned under government measures to protect the community during the COVID-19 pandemic. In March, Premier Mark McGowan announced fines of $1000 for individuals and $5000 for businesses who do not comply with the coronavirus protection measures. “People who deliberately show disregard by putting our frontline workers at grave risk or fail to self-isolate as required and putting others in the community at risk, will not be tolerated and will face the full force of the law and harsh penalties,” Mr McGowan said.