COVID-19: DCT Abu Dhabi issues re-opening of cultural sites and museums

ABU DHABI: The Department of Culture and Tourism (DCT) of Abu Dhabi announces the re-opening of museums and cultural sites in Abu Dhabi. On account of the evolving coronavirus situation, all cultural centers were closed from March.

“We believe that art and culture have the power to help people come together and heal and at DCT Abu Dhabi we are proud to be able to enable that through the work that we do, leveraging the power inherent in art to help re-engage the community and support its return to normalcy in these unprecedented times,” said Saood Al Hosani, Acting Undersecretary of DCT Abu Dhabi.

However, several safety measures have to obey to get the permission to start the service as per MOH UAE.

The guidelines, which require each site to operate at only 40 percent visitor capacity, to begin with, will help all cultural sites to follow the requirements that will support the visitor experience across the cultural site spaces, including social distancing rules, crowd control measures and regulations for employees and visitors in order to reopen safely.

“To enable this, and as per our mandate to provide support for the culture sector in Abu Dhabi, strict measures will be implemented at all our cultural sites and museums which will ensure that visitors will have a high degree of confidence that their health and safety will be of paramount importance when they visit, which means they can enjoy the sites with enhanced peace of mind,” stated Saood Al Hosani.

“The guidelines set out stringent criteria for the sites to follow, to ensure members of the public can be assured their visit will be safe and secure. These steps highlight the strides Abu Dhabi has made in containing the crisis and we are looking forward to welcoming back culture and art-lovers to our attractions soon,” he added.

Each site will also have thermal cameras installed at the entrance, to ensure each person is going through the mandated thermal screening, including staff and visitors, with the safety of the community and public at the core of DCT Abu Dhabi’s plans for site reopening.

Before reopening to guests, all sites are required to conduct comprehensive risk assessments regarding ensuring the health and safety of everyone visiting the site, with a site-specific compliance monitoring procedure also put in place. Once complete, the reopened sites will then have to ensure that visitors and employees respect the social distancing rule of 2 meters with a range of measures.