Vatican Museums eye reopening, with precautions

Friday, May. 15, 2020

ROME (CNS) — As Italian authorities prepare to slowly relax lockdown restrictions in the country, a Vatican City official said it will enact new measures and protocols to ensure the safety of visitors to the Vatican Museums.

In an interview with Vatican News published May 9, Bishop Fernando Vergez Alzaga, secretary general of the Governorate of Vatican City State, said that due to ongoing health and safety preparations, the museums “do not yet have a definite date on reopening.”

Italian Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte announced April 26 that libraries, exhibitions and museums would be allowed to open nationwide May 18 with limited entrance if they could guarantee visitors would observe social distancing and if the institutions followed health regulations designed to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Following the lead of the Italian government, the Vatican announced March 8 that it was closing the Vatican Museums, the necropolis under St. Peter’s Basilica and the museum at the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo – all of which normally draw a large number of international visitors to enclosed and crowded places.

Bishop Vergez told Vatican News that since then, the limited staff are obliged to wear protective gloves and masks and have their body temperatures measured daily. He also said the installation of thermoscanners to measure the body temperatures of visitors is nearing completion.

Once they reopen, “the museums can only be accessed with a reservation,” allowing them to stagger the entrances during opening hours; visitors will be required to wear a mask, he said.

The Vatican Gardens, as well as the museum at the papal villa at Castel Gandolfo, will also open with similar protocols.