The Chief Minister of the State of Kerala, Pinarayi Vijayan, had a press conference a couple of days ago, signalling that COVID-19 restrictions in Kerala could ease drastically in October. The CM has also said that his office will be getting ready to discuss about the reopening theatres and cinema halls around the state with FEUOK and other theatre associations, by the end of this month. While theatres will likely not open any time soon, it is still better than the August evaluation that theatres will not open in the state before 2022.
The current vaccinated numbers within the states are good. At least 80% of the Malayali adult population have received one dose of the COVID-19 vaccination, while more than 30% have received the second dose. The administration is only planning to impose lockdowns in localities with a weekly infection population ratio (WIPR) above 8. 7% WIPR used to be the benchmark for shutting down whole urban and rural wards. This relaxation in the WIPR norm shows that there is a noticeable improvement in the pandemic situation.
Theatres and cinema halls have been haemorrhaging cash over the last 18 months. Opening theatres as soon as possible in these conditions when a couple of blockbusters are releasing will do them a world of good. But that alone will not help – the people will also have to feel safe about leaving the safety of their home to come into a crowded room to watch films.
First, this “improvement trend” in COVID-19 cases has to continue for a couple more weeks (till the end of September). Then theatre associations will have to talk with the office of CM to open theatres with coronavirus restrictions. Then people will have to come and watch the films. This will take time and we don’t expect theatres to open before the end of October. Which, again, is still better than a 2022 reopening.
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