New York's Museum of Modern Art to reopen August 27

The Museum of Modern Art (MoMa) in New York, shown here on March 17, 2020 will reopen on August 27 after a five-month shutdown for coronavirus

New York (AFP) - New York's Museum of Modern Art will reopen its doors on August 27, the institution announced Monday, following a five-month shutdown due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Entry will be free for the first month, MoMA said in a statement.

State Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Friday that New York's museums, art galleries and other cultural institutions will be allowed to reopen starting August 24.

However, there will be mandatory face masks, timed ticketing with staggered entry and just 25 percent occupancy, he said.

New York's famed Metropolitan Museum of Art, which normally welcomes seven million visitors a year, says it will reopen on August 29.

The Whitney Museum of American Art will reopen on September 3.

Performing arts venues will remain shut until the end of the year, however.

The Metropolitan Opera is scheduled to resume on December 31, while Broadway theaters will remain closed until at least January.

New York state was initially hard hit by COVID-19 and has recorded almost 33,000 deaths, according to Johns Hopkins University.

The virus has largely been brought under control there even as it has risen in other US states.

Only 0.71 percent of almost 57,000 coronavirus tests in New York on Sunday were positive, according to state figures.

© Agence France-Presse