Cinema operators in Australia are reportedly targeting mid-July as the date to re-open their cinemas to the public – likely making Christopher Nolan’s “Tenet” the first major release of the post coronavirus era.
The National Association of Cinema Operators (NACO) met on Tuesday and weighed up Australia’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak along with the currently improving conditions.
Australia, with its population of 25 million, began lockdown in mid-late March and has recorded a total of 6,875 cases as of today and 97 deaths in total. Of those cases only 801 currently remain active and Australia, along with its neighbour New Zealand, have been amongst the most successful countries in terms of ‘flattening the curve’ due to both geographic isolation and widespread adoption of social distancing.
However it’s not over by a long shot, and after two solid weeks of new daily cases numbering in the teens, the last few days have seen a jump mainly due to an outbreak at a Victorian meatworks – proving that the virus can pop up again very quickly.
Two major conditions need to be met before cinemas open – a Government green light, and a firming up of the film release schedule. NACO says it will be very mindful of social distancing restrictions to be put in place, and will be accompanied by a new Australian industry standard for sanitization.
This will include staggered session times, spaced seating to meet social distancing requirements, contactless and cashless transactions where possible, investment in sanitization stations where appropriate, increased frequency of cleaning cinemas, and better staff ‘wellness’ policies to ensure the wellbeing of staff.
The news comes as cinemas in Hong Kong will be allowed to reopen from Friday as part of a phased relaxation of social distancing measures in the city. Cinemas will be kept below full capacity. Hong Kong has seen zero new COVID-19 infections in 10 of the past 17 days, and all of those detected had been imported with incoming travelers. In total, Hong Kong has uncovered just 1,041 confirmed cases, and suffered only four deaths.
Source: Variety
