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Japanese Government Lists COVID-19 Guidelines for Small Concert Venues
posted on by Alex Mateo
The Japanese government listed guidelines regarding the reopening of live houses (smaller indoor live music venues) on Friday. According to the guidelines, there should be a distance of two meters (about 6.6 feet) between performers and audience members. If the space is too small for the two-meter distance, performers should wear face shields. Attendees should also stay one meter (about 3.3 feet) apart from each other.
The Japanese Music Venue Association and three other live house organizations also jointly announced guidelines on Saturday for the reopening. The guidelines suggest installing a shield in front of singers to stop spray from the singers' mouths, while other performers should wear face masks. The guidelines state that audience members should be prohibited from singing along with the performers. The guidelines also called on venues to refrain from holding handshake events but stated that alcohol disinfectant should be used between every handshake if such events are held.
The Tokyo Metropolitan Government lifted last Thursday the alert it had ordered due to the recent spike in new cases of COVID-19. Tokyo entered the third and final stage of its recovery road map for COVID-19 at midnight last Friday, and it is aiming to end closure requests for live music venues on Friday. However, the national and metropolitan governments still have guidelines that limit the numbers of attendees at concerts, exhibitions, and professional sports.
Tokyo Governor Yuriko Koike said at a meeting of the capital's coronavirus task force on Thursday, "It will be a long time until treatment or vaccination is available, so we must learn to live with the coronavirus and maintain the necessary precautions to prevent a second wave.” Koike previously said she would consider reissuing closure requests for businesses if the average daily new cases surpassed 50, more than half of new infections were untraceable, or new infections doubled in one week.
Tokyo is aiming to allow night clubs, karaoke parlors, live houses, and other entertainment establishments that serve food to reopen on June 19. The move would effectively remove all remaining closure requests that Tokyo has in place for businesses. Restaurants and bars would be permitted to stay open until midnight.
The national government is asking concerts and exhibitions to limit attendees to 50% of the venue's capacity, at least until the end of July. For now, they may not have more than 100 attendees indoors, although outdoor concerts may have up to 200. These events may have up to 1,000 attendees after June 19, and up to 5,000 attendees after July 10. Professional sports may resume on June 19 without attendees, and may have up to 5,000 attendees (or 50% of the venue's capacity) after July 10.
Source: Fuji News Network via Hachima Kikō
