Te Papa is reopening tomorrow - but attendances at its major drawcard, the Surrealist Art exhibition, will be capped at just 78 people at a time.
Around 6000 people visited the museum with many drawn to the Surrealist exhibition in the weekend before it was forced to close. Photo: RNZ / Dom Thomas
Wellington's Museum of New Zealand Te Papa is among the locations of interest for the region's current Covid-19 scare.
A Sydney man and his partner, who have both tested positive for the Delta variant, visited the museum and went to the exhibition on 19 June while the man was probably infectious.
Up to 2500 people who were there at the same time were asked to isolate for anything between five and 14 days, depending on what part of the museum they were in.
The museum also closed immediately after it was notified that it was a location of interest and more than 90 of its staff are among those who have been in isolation.
Courtney Johnston. Photo: supplied
Te Papa's chief executive Courtney Johnston who has been isolating at home said the museum is confident that it is ready to reopen.
It would be taking a careful approach so that it complied fully with alert level 2.
The museum was deep cleaned over a two-day period last week. From tomorrow table surfaces will be rigorously cleaned, scanning-in will be encouraged, staff will be wearing masks and other PPE and high-touch interactive exhibits will be off limits.
Johnston told Morning Report only 78 people will be allowed into the Surrealist Exhibition - on loan from an Amsterdam museum - at any one time.
The weekend before the closedown saw 6000 people visit the museum with many drawn to the Surrealist exhibition, so it will be a dramatic drop in numbers.
"But that's level 2 - we're doing the best thing for everyone's health and safety."
She advised people to book ahead for the Surrealist exhibition, which features works by Salvador Dalí and René Magritte among others, through the Te Papa website or Ticketek.
Customers can pick times for attending.
She said because Te Papa is such a large building, people can be spread out and attendance at other special exhibitions such as the Gallipoli one will also be limited. Spaces such as for conferences will be limited to 100 people.
The Te Papa car park is among testing sites in the capital but the site was quiet at the weekend. Photo: RNZ / Harry Lock
