The Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York has announced that it will close indefinitely from tomorrow in a bid to contain the spread of coronavirus in the city.
The art museum will shutter its main building on Fifth Avenue, as well as its Met Breuer and Met Cloisters locations, on Friday 13 March.
The museum's closure comes in response to outbreaks of COVID-19 coronavirus in New York City, which so far has 62 confirmed cases.
"The Met's priority is to protect and support our staff, volunteers, and visitors," said Daniel Weiss, the Met’s president and chief executive in a statement.
The Met to "undertake a thorough cleaning"
The Met, which revealed the news today, said in a statement that it intends to "undertake a thorough cleaning" of the museum buildings. It added that the closures are expected to last for several weeks.
According to a report by The New York Times, The Met had two members of staff who showed symptoms of the virus, although neither have been confirmed.
"While we don't have any confirmed cases connected to the museum, we believe that we must do all that we can to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our community, which at this time calls for us to minimise gatherings while maintaining the cleanest environment possible," Weiss said.
Guggenheim and MoMA remain open
The Met's main location on Fifth Avenue, which just opened its British Galleries redesigned by local firm Roman and Williams, is joined by two other outposts in the city.
They include Marcel Breuer-designed Met Breuer building on the Upper East Side and The Cloisters museum in Fort Tryon Park in the Washington Heights neighbourhood in north Manhattan.
The institution is the first museum in the city to announce its closure in response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Other major museums, such as the nearby Solomon R Guggenheim, which just opened Rem Koolhaas' Countryside, The Future exhibition, and MoMA, which is showcasing Neri Oxman's body of works, remain open.
US institutions respond to virus outbreaks
The Met is the latest US institution to respond to the virus as it continues to spread across the country.
US schools including Harvard University, Stanford University, Columbia University and Yale University are suspending in-person lessons and switching to digital learning materials and lectures.
They form part of a number of institutions and studios forced to take activities online to avoid real-world interactions.
Conferences and events across North America have also been cancelled, postponed or moved to digital formats. The Toronto technology conference Collision, the South by Southwest (SXSW) festival in Austin have all decided to replace their physical events with virtual versions, while Californian music festival Coachella has been postponed from April to October.
Photograph by Arad, courtesy of Wikipedia.
Read on for the full statement from The Met:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art announced today that it will temporarily close all three locations – The Met Fifth Avenue, The Met Breuer, and The Met Cloisters – starting tomorrow, March 13, to support New York City's effort to contain the spread of COVID-19. The Museum will undertake a thorough cleaning and plans to announce next steps early next week.
Daniel H Weiss, President and CEO of the Museum, stated: "The Met's priority is to protect and support our staff, volunteers, and visitors, and we have been taking several proactive precautionary measures, including discouraging travel to affected areas, implementing rigorous cleaning routines, and staying in close communication with New York City health officials and the Centers for Disease Control. While we don't have any confirmed cases connected to the Museum, we believe that we must do all that we can to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our community, which at this time calls for us to minimize gatherings while maintaining the cleanest environment possible. We look forward to soon announcing when we'll be able to welcome our staff and visitors back to the Museum."
The Museum has been preparing for this possibility for several weeks, and has developed an operational plan that is now being put in place, which includes provisions to support salaried and hourly staff.
The post The Met museum closes in response to spread of coronavirus in New York appeared first on Dezeen.
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