Coronavirus update: Cinema halls shut again in Delhi with surge in COVID-19 cases

With the spurt in COVID-19 cases, Arvind Kejriwal, chief minister of the National Capital Territory of Delhi, announced the 'yellow' alert of the graded response action plan (GRAP) as a preventive measure.

According to the plan, the Delhi government has decided to shut cinema halls, theatres and multiplexes till further orders. Gymnasia, schools, colleges, educational institutions and coaching institutes will also be closed.

Shops in marketplaces have been allowed to remain open on an odd-even basis from 10am to 8pm. Malls have to follow the same odd-even rule. A night curfew is already on in the national capital between 10pm and 5am daily. Private offices have been allowed to function with 50% staff barring those designated as essential services, which includes hospitals, news media, banks, insurance companies and telecom services.

The release of Shahid Kapoor's upcoming sports drama Jersey (2021), scheduled for 31 December, has been postponed indefinitely. The shutdown of cinema halls may also have a negative impact on the release of big-budget upcoming pan-India films like RRR (2022) and Radhe Shyam (2022), which are slated for release on 7 January 2022 and 14 January 2022, respectively..

Reacting to the Delhi government's decision, producer Anand Pandit said, "We cannot afford a third wave which can potentially be even more devastating than what we as an industry and the rest of the country have already experienced. Now is the time to do what we can, take adequate precautions, vaccinate proactively, comply with and maintain protocols to curtail the spread of the virus. This way, we will be safer in the long run and able to unlock theatres and businesses quickly."

The restrictions follow Delhi recording its biggest single-day spike in COVID-19 infections in six months yesterday, with 331 new cases and the positivity rate rising to 0.5% for two days. The yellow alert kicks in when the positivity rate remains above 0.5% for two consecutive days.