On February 26, 2020, the Beijing Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a “Direction on Epidemic Prevention When the Beijing Movie Industry Resumes Operations during the Time when the Novel Coronavirus Is Spreading” (hereinafter the “Direction”). The Direction said that during the initial stage of resuming operations, movie theaters should sell tickets for every other seat on every other row, employees and audience members must wear face masks and be tested for their temperature, and the ticket office must record each audience member’s information.
The Direction made people wonder if Beijing would open movie theaters for business.
However, on February 27, Chen Bei, Deputy Secretary-General of the Beijing Municipal Government, stated at a press conference that it was not the right time to re-open movie theaters and the movie industry would not resume operations.
Related postings on Chinascope:
- Resuming Production: By February 26, One Third of Small or Mid-Sized Companies Resumed Work
- Resuming Production: China’s Pollution Level Declined Due to Less Production and Travel
- Resuming Production: Xi Jinping Said Half of China’s Counties Do Not Have Coronavirus
- Resume Production: Hangzhou City Direction: Companies Can Punish Employees Refusing to Return to Work
- Resuming Production: Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Sichuan Working on Resuming Production
Excerpt in Chinese:
2月26日，北京市疾控中心发布由北京市电影局制定的《新冠肺炎流行期间北京市电影行业复工防疫指引》（以下简称“《指引》”），引发不少关注。有网友提出，这是不是意味着电影院快要恢复营业了？
《指引》还提出，在复映初期一定时间内（由市电影局视情况明确具体时间），按隔排隔座售票；影院应分别设立唯一出入口，并安排专人值守，工作人员和观众进入影院区域必须戴口罩、测量体温，未戴口罩和体温37.3度以上者不得进入；售票处应建立观众信息登记制度（姓名、性别、住址、身份证号、联系电话、观影影片及放映时间、影厅号和座位号）；建立公共区域和影厅值守制度，安排专人监督进入影院区域的人员和观众必须全时佩戴口罩，对号入座观影，不得近距离接触和交流（保持在1米以上距离）。
2月27日下午，在北京市疫情防控工作发布会上，北京市政府副秘书长陈蓓表示，从目前形势看，电影行业还不具备开业条件，目前也没有对电影行业作出允许开业的要求，电影行业开业暂时不能进行。
Source: Xinhua, February 28, 2020
http://www.xinhuanet.com/fortune/2020-02/28/c_1125637617.htm