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| - New York cultural institutions including the Metropolitan Museum of Art announced temporary closures and cancellations on Thursday over the coronavirus pandemic. The Met said it would close from March 13 without giving a reopening date, while the Metropolitan Opera, Carnegie Hall and the New York Philharmonic cancelled programming through March 31. "With health authorities urging social distancing with greater emphasis, it is simply untenable for us to continue to perform, as it puts our artists, staff, and audiences at risk," the Met Opera's general manager Peter Gelb said in a statement. "I would like to express my deep personal regret that the situation has led us to this point." The Met art museum said it would close all three of its institutions -- the flagship location on Fifth Avenue, the Met Breuer and the Met Cloisters -- and would "undertake a thorough cleaning" of each. "While we don't have any confirmed cases connected to the museum, we believe that we must do all that we can to ensure a safe and healthy environment for our community, which at this time calls for us to minimize gatherings while maintaining the cleanest environment possible," said the museum's president and CEO Daniel Weiss. A major tourist destination, the Met museum drew more than seven million visitors in 2019, with nearly a third coming from abroad. The closures come during a week that has seen the cancellation or postponement of major music festivals, concert tours and major US sporting events -- including the NBA season. mdo/ft
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