Cinema halls reopen amid COVID-19 pandemic: Dos and Don'ts for cinema-goers

The SOPs for reopening of cinema halls, mandated by the Union government, include one seat distance in halls, 50 percent capacity, masks at all times, proper ventilation and air conditioner temperature settings at above 23 degrees celsius.

Moneycontrol News

October 15, 2020 / 08:44 IST

Cinema halls in several parts of the country are ready to open after seven months in the shadow of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic on October 15 in areas outside the containment zones with a maximum 50 percent capacity.

In ‘Unlock 5.0’, the Union government allowed multiplexes, cinema halls and theatres to reopen from mid-October within the framework of a set of standard operating procedures (SOPs). However, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) left it to states to take a final call on the matter.

PVR Cinemas, India's largest film exhibitor with 845 screens in 176 properties across71 cities, said on October 14 that 10 states and four union territories have given their go-ahead for the reopening of cinemas. Accordingly, PVR will start operations in 487 screens from October 15 and hope that other states will soon give their green signal too.

According to reports, states and union territories, including Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, parts of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat, have allowed the reopening of cinema halls with stringent dos and don'ts in keeping with the new COVID-19 normal, while theatres and multiplexes will remain closed in states like Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Chhattisgarh and some Northeast states.

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COVID-19 Vaccine

Frequently Asked Questions

How does a vaccine work?

A vaccine works by mimicking a natural infection. A vaccine not only induces immune response to protect people from any future COVID-19 infection, but also helps quickly build herd immunity to put an end to the pandemic. Herd immunity occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, making the spread of disease from person to person unlikely. The good news is that SARS-CoV-2 virus has been fairly stable, which increases the viability of a vaccine.

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There are broadly four types of vaccine — one, a vaccine based on the whole virus (this could be either inactivated, or an attenuated [weakened] virus vaccine); two, a non-replicating viral vector vaccine that uses a benign virus as vector that carries the antigen of SARS-CoV; three, nucleic-acid vaccines that have genetic material like DNA and RNA of antigens like spike protein given to a person, helping human cells decode genetic material and produce the vaccine; and four, protein subunit vaccine wherein the recombinant proteins of SARS-COV-2 along with an adjuvant (booster) is given as a vaccine.

What does it take to develop a vaccine of this kind?

Vaccine development is a long, complex process. Unlike drugs that are given to people with a diseased, vaccines are given to healthy people and also vulnerable sections such as children, pregnant women and the elderly. So rigorous tests are compulsory. History says that the fastest time it took to develop a vaccine is five years, but it usually takes double or sometimes triple that time.

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