COVID-19 Virus Pandemic Continues to Affect our Region

After several months of social distancing and postponements, closures, and wearing masks, some businesses in the southwestern PA region are starting to reopen. Masks are required and social distancing is still to be observed. When businesses are open will people want to go out? This remains to be seen.

For arts organizations, there is the realization that life as we knew it six months ago is not coming back for a very long time. More and more arts and cultural events are being postponed and many cancelled. The impact of social distancing and fear of disease transmission is something that arts managers are considering seriously. How do you put an orchestra on stage to perform if everyone has to sit 6 feet apart? Even if it is an outdoor concert, this won’t work very well. Audiences can be spread out 6 feet apart but musicians, singers, actors and other performers need to be close to each other. At this time there are no answers so we wait.

The impact of this pandemic in southwestern Pennsylvania in numbers is staggering.  Based on a survey done by Americans for the Arts, in Pennsylvania 95% of arts organizations have cancelled events, and nearly 25% believe that it is highly likely that staff reductions will be needed. You can see the full survey information by clicking here.

As organizations think and plan for re-opening, there are a great number of things that need to be taken into consideration. Click here for a link to the Pennsylvania Department of Health website. These pages include much information about the virus in our state, including county breakdowns of cases of infection and information about re-opening Pennsylvania.