BARBER and businessman Adrian Haynes had what he describes as his "penny dropping" moment while seeing the doctor on Tuesday.
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"He's leaned back from the waist and taken my blood pressure and he's got a mask on," Mr Haynes said.
But as a barber, Mr Haynes said, he gets even closer to his "beautiful, loyal" clients than the average GP, so he knew the decision he had to take amid the virus crisis.
He closed the doors on his barber shop Allegro Style Cutting in George Street "temporarily, but indefinitely" on Wednesday.
"I can't protect myself, I can't protect my customers and I'm really passionate about this industry," he said.
"I want to stay in it.
"For me, it's just the right thing to do."
An emotional Mr Haynes - who took over from John Condello at his barber shop in July 2012 - said he was worried Australians didn't seem to understand the gravity of the situation.
"We're too comfortable. We don't think it's going to hurt us, especially the young ones," he said.
Mr Haynes said he had initially changed the physical configurations at Allegro in response to the tightening restrictions.
"I was removing chairs and having less waiting space.
"I ended up trading with one in my chair, only one waiting up at the front of the shop and if I got another one waiting, I'd lock the shop and put a seat out the front - it's against government regulations, but these are special times - and I had that in use for one day."
But he said it had occurred to him that barbers were no more important than anyone else.
"We [Australians] have got a lot of foolish pride and we want to hang on to business and trade. I get that," he said.
"I'm not wealthy, by any means. I'm going to struggle. But we're all going to struggle."
He said he simply could not accept the risk in continuing to work in such close proximity to his clients.
Mr Haynes said he was not trying to lecture other barbers in the city who were continuing to operate, but had come to a personal decision.
Under the Federal Government's restrictions announced on Tuesday night, hairdressers and barbers could remain open, but customers could spend no more than 30 minutes on the premises.
That time restriction has since been scrapped.
