Smithsonian's DC-area sites to close again due to COVID-19, with no set reopening date

Curtis Tate, USA TODAY
·2 min read

After reopening seven Washington-area museums and the National Zoo over the summer, the Smithsonian is closing the sites again Monday as COVID-19 cases rise.

The sites were closed in March during the first wave of the coronavirus. They reopened in July, August and September with limited hours, lower capacity, social distancing and mandatory face masks.

On Thursday, the Smithsonian announced it would close again, starting Monday, and did not give a date for reopening.

The District of Columbia has enacted coronavirus-related travel restrictions on visitors that may apply to tourists from other states and countries. Anyone coming to Washington from a high-risk jurisdiction and staying for more than 24 hours is required to be tested for COVID-19 no more than 72 hours prior to arrival.

A high-risk jurisdiction is one with a seven-day average of 10 or more cases per 100,000 population. Residents of Maryland and Virginia are exempt from the testing requirement, and anyone who spends less than 24 hours in the district does not need to take a test.

Nearly 30% of U.S. museums remain closed from the original March shutdown, according to a survey by the American Alliance of Museums. (Most of the Smithsonian's sites in Washington and New York have not reopened.)

Those that have reopened are operating at 35% of their regular attendance, which Laura Lott, the group's president and CEO, called "unsustainable long-term."

Smithsonian sites closing Monday:

  • National Air and Space Museum Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center (Chantilly, Virginia)

  • National Museum of African American History and Culture

  • National Museum of American History

  • National Museum of the American Indian

  • National Portrait Gallery

  • Renwick Gallery

  • Smithsonian American Art Museum

Smithsonian sites closed now:

  • National Museum of African Art

  • National Air and Space Museum

  • Freer Gallery of Art

  • Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden

  • National Museum of American History

  • National Postal Museum

  • Arthur M. Sackler Gallery

  • Smithsonian Institution Building

The National Zoo is one of a handful of Smithsonian sites that have reopened in Washington.
The National Zoo is one of a handful of Smithsonian sites that have reopened in Washington.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID-19 resurgence: Smithsonian's DC-area sites to close again