Change Of Plans: Perot Museum Pauses Reopening Amid COVID-19 Spike
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - Pointing to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases in Dallas County and the rollback of the state's phased reopening, the Perot Museum of Nature and Science has decided to pause plans to reopen in early July.
A spokesperson for the museum sent CBS 11 News the following statement:
Though we have created rigorous guidelines and best practices to ensure that we reopen the museums safely and protect our staff and visitors, we are part of a larger community. We believe it is important to support Governor Abbott's, Mayor Johnson's and Judge Jenkins' appeals for Texans to stay home, if at all possible, to be good community partners and neighbors. While museums are still allowed to be open at 50% capacity, we believe a temporary delay in reopening is the most appropriate demonstration of our shared responsibility.
Dallas County reported record-high new cases of the virus for three straight days with 496 on Friday, 561 on Saturday and 570 on Sunday.
The Perot Museum will work in close coordination with the other museums in Downtown Dallas, including the Dallas Holocaust Museum and Human Rights Museum, Dallas Museum of Art, Nasher Sculpture Center, Crow Museum of Asian Art, and The Sixth Floor Museum at Dealey Plaza, to evaluate when we will reopen to the public.
On Monday, the United States reported 38,800 newly confirmed infections, with the total surpassing 2.5 million, according to a tally by Johns Hopkins University. For a few days now, daily reported cases in the U.S. have broken the record set in April. That partially reflects increased testing.