The International Council of Museums recently released a report about the COVID-19 pandemic's impact on the global museum industry.

Based on a survey of more than 1,600 museums in 107 countries from April 7 to May 7, the report analyzes the situation for museums and museum professionals, expected economic impact, digital activities and communication, museum security and conservation and freelance professionals and consultants.

According to the report, 94 percent of respondents said the museums they work for were locked down during the survey. And 84 percent of the museums surveyed stated their employees were working remotely during the shutdown.

As to the economic impact from the pandemic, more than 80 percent of museum programs were reduced and about one-third of museums were forced to reduce staff.

In general, almost all museums around the world have to reduce their activities and more one-tenth are probably going to be eternally closed.

The more vulnerable museums are those with a shorter history or in a place with only a few museums.

The more worrying situation is with freelance professionals and consultants. 16.2 percent of them said they were temporarily fired, and 22.6 percent did not have their contracts renewed.

However, the lockdown has given rise to museums' digital activities, as their events on social media platforms increased more than 50 percent.