The Government of Zimbabwe through the creative and cultural regulatory body the National Arts Council has issued a statement outlining the guidelines on the sectors of the industry that are allowed to re-open and the terms.

earGROUND

The announcement released by Mr Nicholas Moyo the NACZ director this evening comes on the backdrop of the frenzy and unilateral resumption of ‘normal’ business by entertainment and cultural spaces and players in the country following 6 months of a Covid-19 induced blanket closure.

Below is the full statement:

The National Arts Council of Zimbabwe (NACZ) would like to advise stakeholders that the Government has approved the partial re-opening up of low-risk sectors of the Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) in line with Public Health (COVID-19 Prevention, Containment and Treatment) (National Lockdown) (Consolidation and Amendment) Order SI 200/2020.
The NACZ would like to thank all the stakeholders including the Ministry of Youth, Sport, Arts and Recreation, The National Arts Gallery of Zimbabwe (NGZ), Ministry of Health and Child Care, and the various players and captains of industry in the sector for their input in coming up with the Standard Operating Procedures to guide the reopening of the sector.

It is important to emphasise from the onset that players in the identified low-risk sectors seeking to reopen under the relaxed measures will have to APPLY for permission from the NACZ and they will ONLY be allowed to resume operations if council is satisfied that they are able to adhere strictly to set COVID19 transmission prevention protocols and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).

As the sector is celebrating the relaxation of the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions which have seen the CCIs dormant for the past 6 months, NACZ would like to encourage players in the sector to take advantage of the relaxation of the lockdown conditions to go back to their creative spaces and engage in serious production for the sector to recover some of the opportunities lost due to the corona virus epidemic.

After successfully lobbying for the sector’s reopening, the NACZ implores industry players to put the health of practitioners and consumers of CCI products at the forefront of their operations
to avoid the sector become a vector in the transmission of the deadly virus. In this regards the NACZ encourages artistes to establish and adhere to the set COVID-19 prevention protocols
and Standard Operating Procedures at all times as they reopen their creative spaces.

NACZ would therefore like to announce that the following low-risk sectors have been cleared
to resume their operations with immediate effect.
▪ Exhibitions in Galleries and Museums
▪ Book launches
▪ Film production
▪ Training Centres cum Schools of Arts
▪ Arts and Culture Centres
▪ Visual Art Studios
▪ Music Recording studios
▪ Drive-In Cinema

▪ Studio recording for online publication
▪ Theatre Houses for Drama, Dance, Movies and Spoken Word

To maintain the low-risk status of the above-mentioned spaces, the government has approved
Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the players to adhere to covering the following
areas:
▪ Sanitization at the entrance at entry and exit points
▪ Temperature Checks
▪ Wearing of face masks and shield by patrons and staff
▪ Register of all attendees for particular events.
▪ Social distancing in set up and activities
▪ Sanitization of physical objects/equipment within Arts spaces
▪ Fumigation of premises before and after usage
▪ Audiences to conform to the 100 allowed for gatherings
▪ Selling of tickets in advance to control numbers
▪ Sale of alcohol at the venues
▪ Staff regular health checks for the testing of COVID-19
▪ The immediate closure of an arts space in case of COVID-19 cases detection

NACZ is thus ceased with the task of ensuring and monitoring that the reopening of CCI spaces adhere to the set SOPs.