Omicron forces Smithsonian to close five museums

The Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D.C. has temporarily closed five of its museums due to a surge in COVID-19 cases among staff caused by the Omicron variant. The National Museum of Natural History, which houses approximately 145 million artifacts and was featured in the film "Night at the Museum," will remain closed until Wednesday, January 5. Four smaller museums—the National Museum of African Art, the National Postal Museum, the Anacostia Community Museum, and the National Museum of Asian Art (Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery)—reopened on January 3 after a two-day closure. The Smithsonian, the world's largest cultural network with 19 museums, 21 libraries, 9 research centers, and a zoo, attracts about 30 million visitors annually. The closures were necessary to reassign remaining staff to maintain operations at other sites, particularly due to long queues caused by a shortage of visitor services personnel. The institution reported a record number of COVID cases in Washington, D.C., since the pandemic began.