MULTIPLEX: CAN'T HOLD HANDS, NOW

A day after the Education Ministry came out with the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for opening of schools, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar on Tuesday released a 6-page charter of the SOPs for reopening of the cinema halls from October 15 . Only 50% seats are allowed out of the total capacity of cinema halls, with alternate seats left vacant for social distancing; also, face masks will be mandatory inside the halls, the Minister said while releasing the SOPs. It has been, however, left to the discretion of the state governments to decide when to reopen cinema halls and multiplexes. For instance, the Delhi government has decided not to open them from October 15. Multiplex show timings shall be staggered, so as to not have overlap of show timings. Temperature setting shall be in the range of 24°- 30°c.

The SOPs mandate among other steps:

• Hand sanitisers, preferably in touch-free mode, at entry and exit points and in common areas;

• Spitting strictly prohibited;

• Thermal screening of visitors/guests at entry points and only asymptomatic persons to be allowed entry;

• Exit in a staggered row-wise manner to avoid crowding;

• Sufficient interval between successive screenings to ensure row-wise staggered entry and exit of the audience;

• Proper crowd management in parking lots and outside the premises subject to physical distancing norms;

• Number of people in elevators to be restricted;

• Staggered show timings and no overlapping of show start, intermission and finish time in multiplexes;

• Digital no-contact transactions for tickets, foods and beverages;

• Phone nos. to be taken during ticket booking to facilitate contact tracing;

• Ticket window to be opened all day and advance booking allowed to avoid crowding at the sale counters and sufficient number of counters to be opened to prevent crowding during physical booking of tickets.