Just when the nation opened its cinemas due to the steady decline in coronavirus cases, China has made a u-turn, ordering the closure of all its cinemas nationwide as the fight against the pandemic continues.
According to sources who communicated with Deadline, China’s film bureau has informed all exhibitors today, stating that venues must be closed again, with no time frame for when they would be clear to re-open.
This past weekend, it had come as a welcome development when over 500 cinemas had re-opened after being closed since January (sadly, people didn’t visit them though).
There had been hopes that with the development, others would follow suit in the coming weeks in April as Shanghai was set to re-open 205 other cinemas on Saturday due to the spread of COVID-19 which has seen a decline in the nation.
A recent spike in imported cases of the coronavirus (53 were brought in yesterday) has led the Chinese government to stop foreigners from entering the country as it looks to avert a second wave of the virus.
China was the epicenter of the plague when it was first reported in the city of Wuhan and the government has since put in place strict measures to halt the spread.
The quarantine put in Wuhan ended yesterday and transportation was given the green light to and from the city.
The nation has had 81,340 confirmed cases (a figure now overtaken by the United States).
