Covid latest: Czechs ban live music for 2 weeks
mainThe Czech Republic is banning all live music with singing for two weeks from next Monday, due to rising Covid numbers. Instrumental music is still permitted.
The Janáček Brno Festival opened last night with Osud, directed by Robert Carsen, and will close next week.
Recent data for Czech Republic from European Centre for Disease Prevention & Control (ECDC)
Cumulative sum of cases 67,843
Cumulative sum of deaths 636
14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 cases per 100 000, 271.8
14-day cumulative number of COVID-19 deaths per 100, 000 1.5
Trend showing a steady increase, see the ECDC site for graphical trend analysis.
See Nick Wilson editorial in BMJ on Aerosol transmission of Sars-cov-2.
https://www.bmj.com/content/bmj/370/bmj.m3206.full.pdf
Sorry, 2 weeks is not going to do it.
They told us it would be a 2 week lockdown back in March. “15 Days to Slow the Spread”. Sure.
Speaking from the front line in Brno the State of Emergency starts from Monday, October 5 so there is no need for the Janacek Festival to close immediately. Operas and performances involving singing ( lieder? ) are then prohibited for at least 14 days. It looks to me as if concerts without singing can take place but there is a limit of 500 audience and it is not clear whether that is 500 per hall or 500 per separate sector per hall.As usual the devil is in the detail.
I saw 17 opera performances⁄operas in the Czech Republic during September which is 17 more than in most countries so the Czechs are doing their best to keep classical music going.
Unfortunately , as someone singing in the production of “Osud”, it means that our TV relay on 14th October is at best postponed. The opera house has managed brilliantly at keeping safe and this random closing down is very frustrating. Apparently a new “expert” has joined the government band wagon in vilifying singers….but full scale ballet can continue….obviously they won’t be allowed to breath though.