Broadway theaters will require audiences to wear face coverings through June amid the emerging number of Covid-19 cases in New York City, the Broadway League announced Friday, breaking with Mayor Eric Adams, who refused to reimpose mask orders in the city.
The mandate to wear masks for audiences in all Broadway theaters has been extended “at least” until June 30, the Broadway League said.
The mask order was last extinguished until the end of May, even as most Broadway theaters abandoned testing of COVID-19 vaccination requirements as of May 1.
The Announcement of the Broadway mask came days after Adams said earlier this week that he would not reimpose restrictions such as mask orders, saying the city is entering a “new normal” and may not “stop” with “all the variants coming. “”
New York City reached a “high” alert point for Covid-19 on Tuesday and fitness officials recommend that other people wear masks indoors as a result, beyond Broadway and the subway system, masks are largely not necessary.
“As always, the safety and security of our cast, crew and audience has been our most sensible priority,” Broadway League President Charlotte St. Martin, in a statement in June, we intend to continue this record of protection for all, despite the subvariants of omicron. “
4,093. C is the seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases in New York City as of Monday, the recent highest known date, according to the city’s Department of Health. This represents a cumulative of 3,002 cases in early May and about 2,300 instances in mid-April.
The Broadway League will announce in June that masks will be required after June 30, it announced Friday.
Many Broadway operators and theater productions let the staff tasked with enforcing COVID-19 protocols through when evidence of the vaccination order was removed on May 1, the Hollywood Reporter reports. helped enforce the audience mask mandate, according to the journalist, though the screens have other staff members who will help enforce the measures.
Broadway star Patti LuPone drew attention to Broadway’s mask mandate earlier this month, when a video went viral and showed the Tony Award nominee calling audience members into an argument after the show that they weren’t wearing the mask on their noses. Use the mask correctly “is the rule”. If you don’t want to stick to the rule, the camp! LuPone told the audience after a music company performance. “Who do you think you don’t respect the other people sitting around you?”
Broadway has been one of the most cautious industries when it comes to reopening amid the Covid-19 pandemic, remaining closed for the first year and a portion of the pandemic before theaters reopened last fall with strict protocols. The industry has also been hit hard by local Covid surges, which have forced exhibitions to cancel performances due to corporate members contracting the coronavirus and delaying the announcement of Tony Award nominations. in recent weeks, even as cases rise across the country. In addition to Adams, other leaders in areas such as Boston and California’s Bay Area also advised that other people wear masks but not require them, some school districts have reinstated mask-wearing orders. The only city that has reimposed a mask order, Philadelphia, withdrew the order just 3 days after it went into effect amid a public outcry against it.
Covid cases are underway, but cities so far are not reimposing mask mandates (Forbes)
Broadway screens cancel functions, back, as Covid cases in New York City (Forbes)
As Broadway Eliminates Public Vaccination Mandate, Task Cuts Affect COVID-19 Protection (Hollywood Reporter)
Why Adams Rejects Mask Orders as Covid Cases in New York (New York Times)
‘Who are you?’ Patti LuPone Publicly Breaks Broadway Customers’ Policy on Mask Wearing (NBC New York)
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