HOUSTON, March 9, 2020 – Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group is taking a proactive approach by establishing preventive health and safety measures to protect its artists, crews, audience members and employees around the world to reduce the risk of transmission of the COVID-19 virus (Coronavirus).
Relying on the information provided by the World Health Organization (WHO) the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and International SOS (ISOS) to make its decisions and assess the impacts on its touring calendar and international mobility, the company is in close contact with all local public health organizations for their events around the world and is following the imposed measures in these locations.
As the COVID-19 situation is evolving quickly, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group is adapting and implementing safety measures on a daily basis to prevent transmission of the disease.
Global health security can only be achieved if adequate preparedness and response capacity are set in place worldwide. Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group aims to be an example of a good citizen, making sure all precautions are taken.
General Measures
The Group is following the CDC travel restriction guidelines and is avoiding all nonessential travels to high-risk areas. To this day, the high-risk areas for the epidemic are: China (Hubei Province), Iran, Northern Italy (Lombardy and Veneto) and South Korea. The company is also asking all employees to avoid these regions for personal travel.
- Any person coming back from one of these regions, for professional or personal reasons, will be obligated to isolate themselves, away from the workplace, for 14 days upon their return. The Group is implementing this mandatory measure to avoid any possibility of propagating the virus to other employees and customers.
Implemented Actions
Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group has been and continues to, appraise the measures taken to help contain the spread of the CODIV-19 (coronavirus), including signs/symptom identification, early medical assessment, and management procedures for our artists and employees, using ISOS and CDC advisories. These measures include:
- Identifying any artists and staff who have known medical history that indicates health conditions which may put them at increased risk.
- Ensuring the on-site team is familiar with the local city/region protocols for referral or support.
- Treating unwell staff and reporting-up protocol.
- Sharing the latest practices and advice to be applied on our show environments.
- Clear signage displayed in public areas and back stage areas on preventive safety measures such as basic hygiene; washing hands thoroughly for at least 20 seconds, cough or sneezing in the elbow, avoiding touching your face.
- Dedicated staff to greet incoming clients with a hand sanitizer
- Employees dedicated to sanitizing have been added to existing crews and the frequency of sanitizing operations augmented.
- Managers to be advised to track all staff movements (work and personal) and ensure awareness of any potential exposure is identified and reported.
- All cast and crew to minimize close physical contacts; No handshakes or other physical contacts allowed. For the time being, all employees are urged to replace the high-fives after the show with forearm/elbow/foot bump.
Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group is closely monitoring the rapidly evolving outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (CODIV-19) and will continue to work with global health officials, authorities and partners to determine what actions may be needed in the coming days or weeks.
With operations all over the world, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group procedures are updated regularly and are broken down into as many specific and dedicated measures for each region of the world and for each project. The Group is working with local authorities and its business partners every day to provide a work and performance environment that meets the highest standards of health and safety. As a responsible agent in all the communities it visits, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group trusts its audience members to be equally responsible.
About Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group
Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group is a world leader in live entertainment. On top of producing world-renowned circus arts shows, the Canadian organization brings its creative approach to a large variety of entertainment forms such as multimedia productions, immersive experiences, theme parks, and special events. It currently has 4,900 employees from nearly 90 countries. Going beyond its various creations, Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group aims to make a positive impact on people, communities and the planet with its most important tools: creativity and art. For more information about Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group, please visit CirqueduSoleilEntertainmentGroup.com.