Museums can open safely and responsibly, as evidenced by the experiences of 2020 with the 19 meter protocol. In addition, seventeen museums will open in the week of April XNUMX for a pilot with rapid tests. Participating museums can be found in every province. People with a Museum card can visit these museums if they reserve a ticket for a period and show a negative rapid test. This quick test can be taken for free at participating test centers.
The pilot is part of the plan with which the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science wants to investigate the use of rapid tests in the cultural sector. Goals are to test the infrastructure around rapid tests and cultural visits, and to discover how this pleases visitors. This makes it more visible whether rapid tests can help to get social life back on track. The pilot will be held during the National Museum Week, from 19 to 25 April 2021. All more than 400 museums that are members of the Museum Association will participate. There is also a lot of extra offerings online that week, which can be found at: www.museum.nl.
Method for visitors
From next week, people with a Museum card can reserve a time slot at the museum of their choice www.museum.nl/nl/sneltest. The Museumkaart Foundation will immediately announce it on social media if reservations are possible. The museums are spread across the country and each museum can participate for three days. If you reserve a time slot at a museum, you will receive a link to make an appointment for a free quick test. People with a Museum card that has “expired” after December 14, 2020 can also participate. At the booked time, visitors can then enter with their Museum card, proof of reservation and the negative rapid test. In order to limit travel movements, visitors are asked to visit a museum in their own region as much as possible and to choose a test center for which they also need to travel as little extra as possible.
One and a half meters remains valid
The pilot is different from the field labs that were held: the corona protocol continues to apply. For example, the meter and a half will continue to apply, and there are fixed walking routes and disinfectants. The experiences of 2020 show that the protocol is safe and responsible; there are no sources of corona fires known from museums. Moreover, more than two-thirds of visitors reported that they had experienced their visit to a museum as safe, according to research by Validators commissioned by the Museum Association last year. Museums are being prepared to reopen to welcome visitors. Because together museums tell the entire, current story of our ever-changing society with heritage that belongs to all of us.
Participating museums
Drents Museum, Assen | Fries Museum, Leeuwarden | Jopie Huisman Museum, Workum | Groninger Museum, Groningen | Noordbrabants Museum, 's-Hertogenbosch | Netherlands Open Air Museum, Arnhem | Bonnefanten, Maastricht | Hermitage, Amsterdam | Maritime Museum, Amsterdam | Teylers Museum Haarlem | Loevestein Castle, Poederooijen | Aviation Museum Aviodrome, Lelystad | Museum De Fundatie, Zwolle | Railway Museum, Utrecht | Museum Prinsenhof, Delft | Wereldmuseum, Rotterdam | Zeeuws Museum, Middelburg.
The seventeen museums participating in the pilot have been selected in consultation with the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science and the 25 safety regions. In doing so, attention was paid to the spread - at least one museum in each province - museum size and type of collection. The rapid tests are conducted by the test centers of the Open Netherlands Foundation. People who have reserved a time slot on www.museum.nl will then be referred for a free quick test that is offered via www.covidsnelteststraat.nl.
