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Organising cultural events

The Ministry of Culture has prepared a sanitary protocol that accounts for the operation of venues for cultural events

Last update 21.05.2020

The Ministry of Culture has prepared a sanitary protocol that accounts for the operation of venues for cultural events

  1. Upon organising public cultural events (according to the definition specified in the Law on Safety of Public Entertainment and Festivity Events), the venue for cultural events shall ensure the implementation of such events occurs in accordance with the restrictions specified by the Cabinet in relation to public events, including:
    - ensuring that there are no more than 25 persons at the event simultaneously;
    - ensuring that the duration of the event does not exceed 3 hours, including the arrival and departure of visitors if the event takes place indoors. To the extent possible, the event shall be planned so as to avoid the need to organise breaks;
    - during the event, services that are not directly related to the event shall not be provided, including public catering services;
    - ensuring maintenance of a 2 metre distance between the visitors, performing artists, employees of the venue, and the service staff of the event, except for in cases where the persons live in the same household, and preventing the crowding of persons at the entrance and exit and in other rooms;
    - ensuring that persons who are not directly involved in ensuring the course of the event are not at the venue for cultural events during the public event.
  2. When there is no public event taking place in the venue for cultural events, the venue can receive visitors, and shall ensure that a 2 metre distance is maintained between the visitors, between the employees, and between the visitors and employees, except where the persons live in the same household.
  3. The venue for cultural events shall determine the maximum number of visitors that can be at the venue simultaneously when no public event is taking place, ensuring that in the venue there is not more than 1 visitor per 4m2 of the publicly accessible area of the premises at the same time, and not more than:
    - 25 visitors in a venue with a public area of up to 1000 m2;
    - 50 visitors in a venue with a public area of more than 1000 m2
  4. Procedures for organising the rehearsal process of professional performing arts (music, dance, and theatre) at a venue for cultural events shall be determined by the Order of the Minister of Culture regarding the ensuring of social distancing at professional performing arts rehearsals.
  5. The venue for cultural events shall create a list of the persons participating in each public event, compile contact information of persons (in conformity with the principles determined for personal data processing), and store such lists for at least three weeks after the event.
  6. For the demonstration of artistic content, the venue for cultural events shall ensure a stage and technical solutions related to the demonstration of content that allow the maintaining of a 2 metre distance between the performing artists.
  7. The venue for cultural events shall ensure separate premises or an area for the performing artists to stay before and after the public event, ensuring that in such premises or area there is not more than 1 performing artist per 4 m2 at the same time, provided that the possibility to maintain a 2 metre distance between persons is ensured and crowding at the entrance, exit, and in other premises is prevented.
  8. The venue for cultural events shall organise public events so that the performing artists and service staff involved in different events will not simultaneously be in the room where the event takes place and also in other room.
  9. The venue for cultural events shall, in visible places (preferably at the entrance to the building or territory), publicly display information on the maximum number of persons that can be at the venue at the same time outside the hours of public events.
  10. The venue for cultural events shall ensure ongoing control of the number of visitors at the venue. Where necessary, the venue for cultural events shall consider the possibility of organising visits to the venue by appointment outside the hours of events, determining the maximum number of visitors per hour.
  11. The venue for cultural events shall ensure the planning and control of the flow of persons in order to prevent crowding of persons and to ensure maintenance of a 2 metre distance, including:
    - to the extent possible, using separate entrances and exits for the flow of visitors;
    - remove any obstacles that could restrict the size of the entrance or exit area and impede the flow of persons;
    - display clearly legible signs in places visible to the visitors, instructing them to be socially responsible and to observe a 2 metre distance;
    - to the extent possible, mark the places for maintaining a 2 metre distance at ticket offices and in other places where the gathering of persons is possible.
  12. The venue for cultural events shall place announcements publicly (including on the website of the venue of cultural events, social media, and at the venue of cultural events), inviting potential visitors to evaluate their health condition and to not attend the venue for cultural events and the events taking place therein if they have signs of a respiratory infection (fever, cough, shortness of breath) and if they have an obligation to be in self-isolation or home quarantine or to comply with the conditions of strict isolation. 
  13. The venue for cultural events shall ensure that persons (visitors, employees of the venue, performing artists, service staff) with signs of a respiratory infection (fever, cough, shortness of breath) are not present. The venue for cultural events has the right to prohibit persons with signs of a respiratory infection from entering the venue and to invite them to leave the venue, recommending that they go home and contact their GP.
  14. The venue for cultural events shall, to the extent possible, sell tickets remotely. The venue for cultural events shall invite the visitors to pay for tickets and other purchases using payment cards if such a possibility exists at the venue, limiting cash payments to the extent possible. 
  15. The venue for cultural events shall regularly inform visitors of the need to maintain a 2 metre distance and other conditions related to the visit of the venue or events taking place therein by playing audio announcements in Latvian or by an employee of the venue informing the visitors. Where necessary, the information may also be provided in foreign languages.
  16. The venue for cultural events shall ensure that the visitors, employees of the venue, performing artists, and service staff have the possibility of maintaining hand hygiene (by washing hands with soap under running water and with hygienic means for hand drying or by using hand sanitisers (a 70% ethanol solution or another effective hand sanitiser)).
  17. The venue for cultural events shall display clearly legible information at the premises, including in bathrooms, reminding visitors to comply with the requirements of hygiene:
    - Wash your hands often and thoroughly with soap and water, especially after visiting public places, before eating, before touching your face, and after visiting the bathroom.
    - If it is not possible to wash your hands, disinfect them with an alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
    - Remember that the surfaces of touchscreen devices, such as phones, can be contaminated with viruses and bacteria, so they must be cleaned regularly with alcohol-based disinfectants.
    - Do not touch your face (eyes, nose, and mouth) with unwashed hands.
  18. The venue for cultural events shall ensure that the employees of the venue, performing artists, and service staff use only those devices, instruments, and other equipment which is transferred for their use, and shall ensure their transfer from one person to another by disinfecting them in advance by appropriate means.
  19. The venue for cultural events shall clean the premises after each public event or as regularly as possible if no events take place there, cleaning particularly thoroughly all common-use surfaces (for example, door handles, table surfaces, armrests, handrails, surfaces in bathrooms) by using appropriate disinfectants (the recommended disinfectants are 70% ethanol solution or 0.5% sodium hypochlorite solution). Surfaces that are touched by a large number of visitors should be cleaned several times a day. More detailed information on the cleaning of premises is available on the website of the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control.
  20. The venue for cultural events shall, to the extent possible, perform regular ventilation of its premises by opening the windows or using effective mechanical ventilation.
  21. If public catering services are provided on the premises or the territory of the venue for cultural events, the service provider shall be responsible for complying with the conditions laid down in the Order of the Minister of Economics No.1-6.1/2020/55 of 30 March, 2020, “Regarding the Ensuring of Social Distancing at Public Catering Facilities”. Public catering services shall not be provided during a public event.
  22. If trade is performed on the premises or in the territory of the venue for cultural events, it shall be implemented by complying with the conditions laid down in the Order of the Minister of Economics No.1-6.1/2020/51 of 20 March, 2020, “Regarding the Ensuring of Social Distancing at Sales Points”. Trade shall not be performed during a public event.
  23. The venue for cultural events shall organise work so that its employees, performing artists, and service staff who are not directly involved in the servicing of visitors to the venue or in the conducting of the event will not unnecessarily be in the public area of the venue together with the visitors of the event.
  24. The venue for cultural events shall ensure that there are no employees, performing artists, or service staff present at the venue for cultural events to whom the conditions of self-isolation, quarantine, or isolation apply in accordance with sub-clause 4.12. of Cabinet Order No.103 of 12 March, 2020, “Regarding Declaration of the Emergency Situation”. 
  25. The competence of the management of the venue for cultural events includes the evaluation of the usefulness of the use of face masks and other personal protective equipment; complying with the conditions for the proper use and disposal thereof; and also the necessity of determining compliance with other additional safety measures. 
     

Source reference

Kultūras ministrija

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