Coronavirus, archaeologists concerned: we want face masks for work, especially on free Sundays

TheNational Association of Archaeologists has issued a note to express concern for the health of professionals working in monuments, museums, and archaeological sites after the declaration of a state of health emergency due to the spread of coronavirus (at the moment there are two confirmed cases in Italy, hospitalized at Spallanzani in Rome). “Without wishing to fuel unnecessary and dangerous alarmism,” the ANA writes, “we believe it is necessary to better protect workers by providing them with the personal protective equipment required by law in exceptional circumstances and in line with the indications provided in these hours by the Ministry of Health.”

This is especially with the busiest sites in mind, all the more so on the busiest days (such as today, the date of free admission in all state museums, being the first Sunday of the month). “It is not acceptable,” the archaeologists specify, “that in monuments with very high attendance density (such as the Colosseum, the Uffizi, Pompeii, with their thousands of daily accesses) workers are not equipped with nose-mouth protection masks and, for those tasks that involve contact with the public, disposable gloves.”

ANA President Alessandro Garrisi lashes out at measures deemed insufficient to cope with the emergency: “It is offensive to the dignity and health of workers that especially in high-visitation monuments, they are only given generic directions such as ’wash hands frequently’ and ’avoid getting within a meter of other people,’ advice that is impossible to follow.”

Given the state of health emergency established by the government and the global emergency decreed by the World Health Organization, the archaeologists, conclude, “we consider it urgent to take action to protect the health of workers, especially on the eve of a special day such as the ’Free Sunday’ promoted by MiBACT, when thousands of people will flock all together to admire our monuments.”

Pictured: visitors to the MANN in Naples (ph. Credit ANA)

Coronavirus, archaeologists concerned: we want face masks for work, especially on free Sundays

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