Consequence of Sound: Over the past 24 hours, several states have reduced the restrictions in place to curb the spread of COVID-19. On Tuesday, both Texas Governor Greg Abbott and Mississippi Governor Tate Reeves abruptly decided to lift all capacity restrictions on businesses and end their states’ mask mandates starting next week. Then today, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that plays, concerts, and other performances can resume indoors at limited capacity beginning next month. Just because music venues are allowed to reopen, however, doesn’t mean they’re all jumping at the opportunity to do so.
2 comments:
I think Governor Abbott and Reeve's decisions to lift all COVID restrictions and end the mask mandates is so incredibly stupid and irresponsible. Right now is a critical time to control COVID variants and we are so near the end with the vaccine if those are controlled. This could go directly against that effort. I think that it is wise that venues in Texas are being cautious with their reopening efforts. They either have decided they will not open until the CDC advises it is safe or will continue to uphold strict mask, distancing, and capacity protocol. I think that those in the entertainment industry are painfully aware of the impact the virus has had on them, and also realize that if they reopen now it could be hugely detrimental to their industry in the long term. I am glad that venues are prioritizing the safety of not only their patrons but their staff and performers as well. Music venues are hanging by a thread right now and I think that it is incredibly important for those who care about them to donate and support their business in the ways we can while they remain closed.
Even though the New York and Mississippi governors Abbott and Reeves have preemptively decided to fully open their states I am encouraged to see that the theatre and performance industries are holding back and keeping the safety of their employees and patrons in priority. Opening, even at partial capacity, with no mask mandate in place is extremely dangerous to everyone who would be in the building. It is a sure fire way of spreading the COVID virus, simply because people were too impatient to wait another few months. In my mind, reopening at all before the vaccine is widely spread in the community of the theatre is a mistake. New York may be on the right track with only partial capacity and a maintained mask mandate, but the risk of spreading the virus even faster and further are still there. It is also a challenge for some theaters to open in partial capacity for budgetary reasons. Spending all of the money they normally would on the production but only getting part of what they would normally get in ticket sales may not be smart for some theaters and they might not think that opening at all under these circumstances is worth it.
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