Dutch museum opens contagious diseases exhibit after coronavirus delay

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As the world grapples with COVID-19's furious spread, a museum in the Dutch city of Leiden opened an exhibition on contagious diseases after a long delay caused by the pandemic.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander, who went into isolation with his wife and three daughters as a precautionary measure after returning from Austria in March, opened the “Contagious!” exhibition on Thursday at the Rijksmuseum Boerhaave.

The exhibition highlights a range of different infectious diseases, including the bubonic plague, smallpox and AIDS. Organizers even added references to COVID-19.

Dutch King Willem-Alexander and curator Mieneke te Hennepe, left, tour the "Contagious!" exhibit at Rijksmuseum Boerhave in Leiden, Netherlands, Thursday, July 16, 2020. (AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

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One piece in the exhibit is a dummy wearing a replica of a plague doctor’s long robe and elaborate face mask with a long beak stuffed with aromatic spices to protect against infection; next to that piece is another mannequin wearing a blue medical gown, plastic goggles, face mask and disposable gloves.

Some of the historical artifacts on display owe more to superstition than to science: an onyx-handled silver rattle complete with bells and whistle was believed to protect babies from ill health and accidents.

A museum in the Dutch city of Leiden finally opened an exhibition on contagious diseases through the ages on Thursday after a long delay caused by the disease currently sweeping the world — COVID-19.

Museum director Amito Haarhuis said the timing of the exhibition and the pandemic were a coincidence that underscored the importance of the subject matter.

“We had already thought that we wanted to warn for a new unknown disease,” he told The Associated Press. “Nobody knows where it will break out or when, but we do know, we’ve learned that from history, that there will always be a new disease. And we wanted to warn for that and then suddenly we don’t need it. We didn’t need to warn anymore because there was an outbreak.”

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Dutch King Willem-Alexander, center, curator Mieneke te Hennepe, second left, and director Amito Haarhuis, left, tour the "Contagious!" exhibit at Rijksmuseum Boerhave in Leiden, Netherlands, Thursday, July 16, 2020.(AP Photo/Peter Dejong, Pool)

The exhibition was to have opened April 15, but the museum shelved it in March as the government introduced lockdown restrictions to rein in the spread of the coronavirus.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.