Cinemas in SA will remain open amid Covid-19 outbreak

It's business at usual for cinemas across South Africa, but new hygiene measures will be implemented. 

Andries Basson, National Operations Executive at Nu Metro Cinemas said that Nu Metro Cinemas will continue trading and are adhering to stringent health and safety cleaning protocols. 

This includes high-touch point areas such as kiosks, self-service terminals, serving counters, door handles, rails and bathroom areas. 

"Staff have also been trained on all the preparatory and preventative hygiene measures required to limit the spread of infection. We also encourage our customers to follow the guidelines laid down by the South African government and the World Health Organisation. 

"Our commitment and responsibility towards customers have never been stronger as we face the Covid-19 pandemic together. Their safety as well as the safety of our staff in cinemas are our highest priority. Our actions demonstrate a firm commitment to deploying appropriate resources to help maintain a healthy environment for our customers and team members". 

"We are encouraging social distancing by introducing at least 1 metre of distance between booked seats. This has been introduced on an automated system, where customers are automatically separated by 2 ‘buffer’ seats on either side of their selection. These buffer seats disappear, and are then unavailable for other guests to purchase", said Basson. 

Has added that they sanitising seat armrests, cup holders, and tables before every show. 

Ster Kinekor said that in light of President Ramaphosa’s announcement and in response to growing concern regarding the spread of the coronavirus, Ster-Kinekor’s Executive Committee has been working to ensure that it remains abreast of all developments relating to the outbreak of coronavirus. 

In a statement the cinema giant said "Certain hygiene protocol steps had already been taken including the placement of hand sanitizers in cinemas and minimizing staff in periods when they are not required.

"The Executive Committee and leadership team are encouraging social distancing inside the cinema, by ensuring that two seats be left empty between each booked seat. In addition, cinema capacity for each show will be capped at 100. We are proceeding with scheduled programming – however no shows will screen before 12pm or after 6pm."