The Mona Lisa Is on the Front Line as the Louvre Reopens With New Safety Measures

In the Louvre, the Mona Lisa is flanked by guards who usually
help keep the crowds moving through the packed Salle des États. But
after staff forced the Paris museum to close Sunday amid safety
concerns over the spread of the coronavirus, their routine has
changed. Now, the guards stand still, and visitors are left to
figure out their own flow through the gallery.

This is one of the emergency measures the Louvre has put in
place after it reopened to the public on Wednesday, March 4. The
French government has banned gatherings of more than 5,000 people
after nearly 300 confirmed cases and four deaths from the
infections. The Louvre welcomes around 30,000 visitors a day, six
days a week.

Although the French government said the ban did not apply
to the Louvre as visitors tend to be dispersed through its many
rooms, its staff remained concerned and exercised their right to
vote to abruptly shutter the museum on Sunday.

Louvre staff representatives met with the museum’s senior
management and doctors on Tuesday, its regular closure day, to
share their concerns about their safety as coronavirus, or
COVID-19, spreads.

They discussed updated safety precautions, including static
guards in front of the Mona Lisa, the museum’s main draw. After a
vote on Wednesday morning, the museum reopened yesterday afternoon.
Guards are not wearing masks or gloves as they requested, but they
have been issued hand sanitizer.

But will people be able to control themselves in front of the
most enigmatic smile in the world? Staff are skeptical that the
security measures are enough, and they are also unsure they will
work out in terms of visitor flow. “People are going to wait around
in front of the painting,” one guard told the New York
Times. “It will be messy.”

Ticket salespersons will work as usual but behind glass kiosks;
otherwise, the museum agreed that the majority of ticket sales
would take place through self-service machines.

On the museum’s website it “invites” visitors from coronavirus
affected areas to postpone their museum visit.

Museums and historic sites in Europe that are large gathering
places popular with international tourists are bracing themselves
as coronavirus spreads. Museums in Northern Italy, which has borne
the brunt of early outbreaks, reopened this week after a temporary
closure but visitors are being told to keep three feet apart from
one another.

Various UK museums Artnet News contacted said they are
monitoring the situation. A spokesman for Historic Royal Palaces,
which manages the Tower of London and other large heritage
attractions, says that it has installed extra handwashing stations
in public and staff areas.

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