(Credit: Jan Windszus Photography)

Earlier this week, leading German epidemiologists from the prestigious Berlin’s Clinic Charité published a revised study suggesting that the opera houses and concert halls should allow every seat in the audiences to be occupied. The report initially appeared on the website Rbb24.de.

However, in a major twist, the Charité’s Board of Directors has distanced itself from the report.  The Board of Directors took the matter to Twitter, stating that “the paper on the resumption of opera and concert operations under the COVID-19 conditions had not been coordinated and did not reflect the position of the board.”

Furthermore, the draft does not take into account the current dynamics of the infection process and the associated risks, per the statement of the Charité’s Board of Directors. Subsequently, the paper should not be viewed as a proposal for action, but only as the basis for a further discussion within the framework of the Berlin’s COVID-19 safety strategy.

German Culture Minister Monika Grütters called the paper “one of the several important expert contributions.” Per Grütters’ words, the testing and safety model that has been deployed at the Salzburg Festival has proven how the theaters and opera houses might operate during the pandemic.