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PEOPLE & ARTS Monday 2 March 2020

Virus fears close down France's famed Louvre Museum

By JOHN LEICESTER Louvre said a staff meeting Among the frustrated visi- He posted a video on Twit- the Louvre is scheduled for
Associated Press about virus prevention ef- tors was Charles Lim from ter of the long lines of peo- Monday between union
PARIS (AP) — The spreading forts stopped the museum Singapore. ple waiting to get in. representatives and the
coronavirus epidemic shut from opening as scheduled He and his wife, Jeanette, "We waited for about 3 museum management.
down France's Louvre Mu- Sunday morning. chose Paris to celebrate hours before giving up," he Sacristin, who will be tak-
seum on Sunday, with work- Would-be visitors were still their first wedding anniver- told The Associated Press. ing part, said museum visi-
ers who guard its famous "It was incredibly disap- tors should be subjected to
trove of artworks fearful of pointing." health checks to protect
being contaminated by The shutdown followed a staffers and if any cases of
the museum's flow of tour- French government deci- coronavirus contamination
ists from around the world. sion Saturday to ban indoor are confirmed "then the
Almost three-quarters of public gatherings of more museum should be closed."
the Louvre's 9.6 million visi- than 5,000 people. Workers have asked for
tors last year came from Sacristin said the new mea- masks to be distributed but
abroad. The world's most sure exacerbated the fears so far have been given only
popular museum wel- of Louvre workers that they an alcohol-based solution
comes tens of thousands of might be in danger of con- to disinfect their hands, he
fans daily in Paris. tamination. Louvre staff- said.
"We are very worried be- ers were also concerned "That didn't please us at all,"
cause we have visitors from about museum workers he said.q
everywhere," said Andre from northern Italy who had
Sacristin, a Louvre employ- come to the museum to
ee and union representa- collect works by Leonardo
tive. Tourists stand outside the Louvre museum, in Paris, France, da Vinci that were loaned
"The risk is very, very, very Sunday, March 1, 2020. for a major exhibition, he
great," he said in a phone Associated Press said.
interview. While there are Italy, with over 1,100 coro-
no known virus infections navirus cases and 29
among the museum's 2,300 waiting Sunday afternoon sary and bought tickets in deaths, has been the epi-
workers, "it's only a question to get inside but the Louvre advance for the Louvre, center of the outbreak in
of time," he said. later announced it would home to the "Mona Lisa" Europe. Another meeting
A short statement from the not open at all on Sunday. and other famous artworks. about virus prevention at