In view of the spread of coronavirus, the Hermitage announces the following

- A crisis management plan has been drawn up, which includes possible options for the museum's operation should the situation deteriorate.

- The Hermitage does not plan to hold any mass cultural events with more than 1,000 participants in the near future.

- Attendance at the museum complex is regulated by the Museum Security Service and by technical means that prevent large crowds of visitors from gathering.

- The Hermitage is striving to ensure that the museum's exhibition plans do not change.

- At present we plan for all our exhibitions to open according to the previously approved schedule, although the ceremonial openings of these exhibitions, with invited guests, will not be held.

- The museum does not plan any trips by its staff outside Russia in the near future.

- Staff who have arrived or are arriving from abroad are undergoing self-isolation and working remotely.

- All staff whose work involves contact with visitors are provided with protective masks.

- The already meticulous cleaning of the museum has been intensified.

- Despite the difficult conditions, the museum is not closing.

AND NOW, ATTENTION:

- Children, pupils and students, as well as Russian pensioners, remain among the main social groups of the museum's audience.

Evidently, the contradiction between all the other points and the last one is not obvious to everyone.

Well, what is there to say, friends? In the war years the Hermitage showed incredible fortitude and dignity. How best to characterise its conduct during an epidemic, I hardly know.

Information from the pinned post in the official group https://vk.com/wall-67940544_47422