Delhi allows cinema halls to operate at full capacity, opens swimming pools

New Delhi: The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Sunday allowed cinema halls to operate at full capacity, while also permitting swimming pools to open for all

New Delhi: The Delhi Disaster Management Authority (DDMA) on Sunday allowed cinema halls to operate at full capacity, while also permitting swimming pools to open for all. The order came four days after the Union ministry of home affairs had further relaxed Covid-19 restrictions for the country on Wednesday.

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The restriction on social or any form of gatherings, including weddings, where only 50 guests are allowed, however, will continue.

In an order issued by chief secretary Vijay Dev, the DDMA reiterated all the guidelines and standard operating procedures notified by the Central government for the opening of facilities and activities, including trade exhibitions and sports events.

“The situation of Covid-19 has been reviewed and considering that the number of active and new cases of Covid-19 have been declining steadily during the last two months, it has been decided that guidelines of the MHA order dated January 27, along with SOPs issued by the ministry of information and broadcasting for cinema halls and theatres, ministry of youth affairs and sports for operation of swimming pools, and for opening up of stadiums for sports events and department of commerce and government of India for holding trade exhibitions shall be applied mutatis mutandis in NCT of Delhi,” read the DDMA’s order issued on Sunday.

All of these activities will be allowed from Monday (February 1) till February 28 until further orders.

Delhi recorded 140 new cases of Covid-19 on Sunday as the city’s positivity rate slipped to 0.23%, authorities said. According to the bulletin issued by the Delhi health department, the fresh cases came after 60,695 tests having been conducted for detection of the virus.

With this, the total number of cases for Covid-19 in the national capital has touched 635,096, while the death toll hit 10,853, with four more people succumbing to the infection on Sunday. The number of active cases in the national capital dropped to 1,361 from 1,436 on Sunday.

Starting Monday, cinema halls and theatres in Delhi will be able to function with 100% seating capacity, instead of 50% which was allowed till January 31.

The multiplexes have been asked to follow staggered show timings to avoid crowding and longer intermissions have been recommended so that the audience seated in different rows of the auditorium can move in a staggered manner. However, cinema halls located inside containment zones will continue to stay shut. Apart from physical distancing of at least 6 feet in the common areas, the SOPs also recommend digital booking of tickets be encouraged and contact number of ticket-holder be noted at the time of booking to facilitate contact tracing. Only asymptomatic people are to be allowed entry inside halls, the order stated.

Gautam Dutta, CEO, PVR Limited, India’s largest film exhibition company, welcomed the decision of allowing cinema halls to operate at 100% capacity and said the move will boost the multiplex industry.

“India has done well to control the spread of Covid-19, along with the large scale roll out of the vaccination drive. This move will give confidence to film producers to release their much awaited movies. It will also improve the sentiment of the audience who, we now hope, will return to the cinemas to watch their choicest movies in the company of their loved ones. PVR continues to keep safety and hygiene as paramount and abide by all SOPs as laid down by the government at its cinemas,” said Dutta.

For swimming pools, the SoP states that alternate lanes of the pool will have to be used from both directions to maintain physical distancing of swimmers to the extent feasible. It also mandated CCTV monitoring to check crowding of pools and the visitors gallery, while stating that swimming pool should ensure adequate and regular water filtration and chlorination as per the standards laid down by WHO.

The Delhi Development Authority (DDA), which maintains and operates a number of sports complexes, stadiums and swimming pools in the city, said it will soon start re-applying for the pre-requisite licences to open its facilities.

“Once we formally received the government’s SOPs, we will take a decision. We will have to apply for licence from the municipal corporations and Sports Authority of India. We will then also have to apply to Delhi police’s licencing department to renew our permit,” said a senior DDA official.

However, the DDMA maintained status quo on the restriction on public gatherings. A senior DDMA member said number of guests for weddings will continue to be 50 in Delhi for now and that for funerals will be 20.