Milanova: Culture Ministry Has Prepared New Culture COVID Traffic Lights
Bratislava, January 5 (TASR) – The Culture Ministry has prepared new culture COVID traffic lights, which, among other things, improve the conditions for organising mass cultural events for the vaccinated, Culture Minister Natalia Milanova (OLaNO) posted on a social network on Wednesday.
“The improved traffic lights respond to new scientific knowledge and to ever higher, although overall not very pleasing vaccination,” wrote Milanova, adding that the ministry would “prefer to scrap all culture-restrictive measures but health and protection of people have priority”. According to Milanova, she understands the agony and anxiety of those who live by art and culture.
Milanova further stated that the Culture Ministry respects the measures set by experts and specialists, but this doesn’t mean that “it silently sits in the corner”. She claims that it discusses the situation, the expected development of the pandemic, and thus practical options on how to minimise the restrictions on culture and people’s lives, but at the same time keep the risk of spreading the virus tolerable.
Although from the epidemiological viewpoint many theatres, cinemas, concert halls and clubs are safer than public catering facilities, they remain closed, unlike pubs and restaurants, notes the Let’s Open Culture initiative, which is calling in an online petition for the culture COVID traffic lights to be reintroduced as soon as possible.
The initiative pointed to the fact that theatres, cinemas, clubs and concert halls have been closed since the declaration of a state of emergency at the end of November 2021, unlike other facilities that have been allowed to resume their operations when it was decided to ease the measures. “As representatives of the culture sector of theatres, cinemas and music, we view this situation as unbearable and unfair,” states the Let’s Open Culture initiative in its petition, which has been signed by some 3,000 supporters.
The governing Freedom and Solidarity (SaS) party has addressed the same call to the Culture Ministry.