According to sources, after receiving requests from associations to unseal the functioning of the movie theatres, the Centre is planning to permit cinema halls and gyms to reopen with a lot of restrictions. The decision might be taken forming a major relaxation in Unlock 3.
The increasing number of cases hasn’t stopped many people from going out to places and even suggesting for the reopening of several public places.
The sources said on Monday that as far as the schools, colleges, and educational institutions are concerned, they will remain closed with the continual of online virtual classes.
A union of the managers of movie theatres suggested the Information and Broadcasting Ministry of India let cinema halls be reopened amid the next level of relaxations from the coronavirus lockdown. They requested that they are allowed to reopen the same, taking in only 25-30 percent of the previous intake of viewers.
This was sent over to the Union Home Ministry which has taken the request under consideration and debating over doing so.
The source added that apart from movie theatres, gyms might also be permitted to function, but with several limitations.
The Delhi state government had requested the Centre for their permission over the working of metro stations again, however, no response has been received as of now regarding the matter.
Apparently, the Centre is placing its cards with utmost alertness because the month of August marks the commencement of a lot of religious festivals. Hence, more number of relaxations would mean more cases of the deadly virus.
The extremely difficult decision will need to be pondered upon many times as the country is inching towards seeing 50,000 coronavirus cases each day. 14.4 lakh cases have been reported so far along with 32,770 deaths.
These numbers have leveled up the nation to reach the third most hit country in the world as the US and Brazil overpowers it taking the first and second rank respectively.
As some states are continuing with their lockdowns despite the Central allowance, in the regard of movie theatres and gyms too, the state government can take a different and final decision for their own borders.
Since the coronavirus lockdown got imposed in the country, theatres, educational centers, gyms, etcetera have been shut to curb the spread of the disease as these are some of the most highly populated public places. The lockdown initiated in the latter half of March took over 6 million souls so far in the world.
As a part of the exit procedure from the lockdown, malls, markets, and public transport were permitted to function, bearing in mind the restrictions imposed by the government. The train and flight facility had also been recommenced. However, very specific routes and numbers of air travel vessels have been allowed.
In his weekly radio session, Prime Minister Narendra Modi briefed his listeners, speaking about the gravity of the situation which still prevails. He called the pandemic to “as dangerous as it was” during the early reporting of cases. However, he appreciated India’s recovery rate.
