Gisborne War Memorial Theatre has been requisitioned by the DHB as a Respiratory Health Assessment Centre and COVID-19 Testing Station.

Gisborne District Council Theatre Services Leader, Mara Weiss reports that work started started 20th March with construction of hospital isolation pods on the stage. Testing started on 26th March and has been operating 7 days a week since then.

Mara says "We’ve modified our procedures to keep our staff safe and restricted to ‘clean’ areas. Our staff go in only to unlock, turn on lights and then lock up at the end of each day. There are a range of measures in place to mitigate risk, such as keeping the house curtain down to reduce spread of air from stage house to auditorium'.

We'd love to share any other stories about how venues are being put to alternative uses during lock-down.