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Sydney’s movie cinemas begin to reopen post COVID PAGE 1-2
BY MARK MORELLINI fter a three-month national hiatus of all indoor activities as part of the COVID-19 lockdown, moviegoers should be delighted that cinemas will commence reopening from July 2. But the anticipated return of Australia’s favourite indoor recreation leaves many people with one very important question – is it safe to return to cinemas owing to COVID-19? Benjamin Zeccola CEO of Palace Cinemas explained that the lockdown was inevitable and absolutely necessary. “We were the first cinema group to close because at that moment there was an enormous community concern and there were staff concerns
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as well. Customers had also stopped coming to the cinema in the third week of March, and in the absence social distancing and contact tracing at that time, it didn’t seem like it was the right thing to continue, even though we didn’t know the government would mandate a closure in the coming weeks.” Now there is an accepted practice of social distancing and other measures have also been implemented to ensure the safety of all patrons. “We will be running everything through contactless payments and our booking system now has an algorithm that separates your booking from other bookings so you can sit with your family and friends all in a row together, but there will be two vacant seats on either side. In
most cinemas every second row will also be removed from sale so there will be plenty of space and fresh air.” Other measures that should restore moviegoer’s confidence include cleaning regimes and routines which ensure there’s a deep clean in-between all sessions and separating staff members who conduct the booking transactions from those serving popcorn, pouring wine, and passing the choc tops over the counter. Patrons must also provide their details to gain access. “As an added precaution if a patron is visibly ill they will most certainly be asked to leave immediately and we
would remain as much as possible in contact with that person to see if there is a subsequent diagnosis and if there is, full contact tracing would occur.” When asked whether moviegoers should feel confident returning to Palace Cinemas, Zeccola was adamant that it is absolutely safer than ever. “It’s safer than public transport, safer than supermarkets, gymnasiums, and any other form of indoor recreation. People will have four square meters per person and one point five meters enforced inside the venues and with all the other measures in place, the chances of contracting the virus are so minimal that there’s literally no reason to worry.” Continued on page 2