Christopher BarrettThe European Commission (EC) has published European Union (EU) guidelines designed to “ensure the safe resumption of activities in the cultural and creative sectors”.
Recommendations include the use of Covid-status passports, the vaccination of all venue staff, and contact tracing.
The EC said the guidelines aim to provide a coordinated approach in line with the specific national, regional and local conditions, with the aim of guiding the design and implementation of measures and protocols in EU countries to cover both the safe reopening as well as the sustainable recovery in the cultural and creative sectors.
Along with the above mentioned recommended measures, the guidelines suggest that event operators should put in place targeted protective measures including, maintaining social distancing whenever possible, clean and accessible hand-washing facilities, appropriate ventilation, and frequent cleaning of surfaces. It also suggests the use of face ommasks by attendees is an important complementary measure.
It suggests the lifting of all restrictions should be “strategic and gradual” in order to assess the “epidemiological situation”, and that a range of actions to ensure the sustainable recovery of the sector should accompany the reopening of venues.
EC VP Margaritis Schinas said, “Culture helped people cope with the impacts of lockdowns and social distancing. It is now our turn to accompany the sectors in their path to reopening. We need coordinated and tailor-made efforts across the EU to allow the culture world to safely and gradually resume its activities and be more prepared for future crises. The cultural and creative sectors are strong European assets and are important for Europe’s sustainable recovery, increased resilience of European society, and more generally, our European way of life.”
The EU guidelines are available here. They were developed in colaboration with the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) and the Health Security Committee.