French museums, monuments “ the first to reopen ” when the cases of Covid-19 decline

Museums and monuments will be the first to reopen when there is a drop in the number of Covid-19 cases, said French Culture Minister Roselyne Bachelot. But cinemas, concert halls and theaters are to remain closed until further notice.

“I have always said that museums and monuments would be the first to reopen … when we have an improvement,” French Minister of Culture Roselyne Bachelot said on BFM-TV. “I understand people asking me for dates. As soon as there is a possibility, we will.

“A museum does not open as you turn on the light in a room,” continued the minister. “The leaders told us that it takes between three days for the fastest and 15 days to 3 weeks if we follow … a certain number of procedures.

“So, if we have a vision of the epidemic over only three to four days, it is not possible. We need visibility over fifteen days,” added Bachelot.

The Minister of Culture brought together the various heads of museums, institutions with very different characteristics, since they include public establishments, municipal museums and private collections, all with different reopening characteristics.

‘Zombies without culture’

On Sunday, infectious disease expert Eric Caumes pleaded in favor of the reopening of cultural and sports venues, “damaged” because of the Covid-19 epidemic, in the name of the mental health of the French who “fall into unsanitary conditions.

“I think we really have to relaunch all this because we all fall into difficult situations, we turn into zombies, without culture, without leisure other than those that we have at home, without sport”, declared the person in charge. from the infectious and tropical diseases department of the Pitié Salpêtrière hospital on BFM-TV.

Cinemas and theaters will have to wait

Other parts of the cultural sector, especially cinemas and theaters, will have to wait longer.

Bachelot responded to the message published on Sunday by French actor Pierre Niney, in which he denounced the closure of theaters when places of worship or department stores are allowed to remain open.

“I hear the frustration of the artists,” said the minister.