INDIA. Cinema halls in India are all set to reopen again from October 15 as per the Ministry of Home Affairs’ (MHA) Unlock 5 guidelines. The cinema halls were shut down for seven months in India due to COVID-19. Now, the government has allowed all the cinema halls to reopen again.
In an open statement, Information and Broadcasting Minister, Prashant Javadekar said, “Cinema halls have been shut for the last seven months. They are now opening from October 15. For the safety of people, we have come out with SOP to be followed”.
Javadekar issued guidelines and standard operating procedures (SOPs) today.
Guidelines and SOPs issued by the government
The guidelines given by the government are :
- In the cinema halls and waiting areas, social distancing of at least 6 feet is compulsory.
- Use of face covers and masks are mandatory.
- The thermal screening of all the visitors is mandatory.
- Digital no-contact transactions should be the most preferred mode for payment of tickets, food and beverages.
- To facilitate contact tracing, the contact number of the person shall be taken at the time of ticket booking.
- The normal body temperature must be between 86 °F to 96.8° F
- Spitting shall be strictly prohibited.
- All the visitors must install and use the Aarogya Setu app.
- The cinema hall staffs will only allow packaged foods
- To maintain adequate physical distancing , proper seating arrangements will be made inside the auditorium of the cinemas /theatres/multiplexes.
- To avoid crowding, The exit should be done in a staggered row-wise manner.
- Hand sanitizers (preferably touch-free) should be available at every entry and exit points.
- Seats that are “Not to be occupied” shall be marked as such during booking (for both online booking and at the box office sale of tickets).
Meanwhile, in the past seven months, several filmmakers had opted for the digital release of their films on leading OTT platforms.
