JAKARTA, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- The administration of Indonesia's capital Jakarta has allowed three major cinema owners to resume operation on Wednesday under COVID-19 health protocols, an official said.
Cinemas in the capital city had been closed since April to comply with the government's calls for social distancing amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
Bambang Ismadi, head of the Tourism Department of the Jakarta Tourism and Creative Economy Office, said the administration made the decision following evaluations of the three cinema owners, namely Cinema XXI, CGV Cinemas and Cinepolis, on their readiness to implement the COVID-19 health protocols while operating.
The maximum number of viewers in each of the movie theater, according to Ismadi, must be at 25 percent capacity. Viewers are prohibited from having foods and beverages inside.
"And the last screening must be at 8:00 p.m.," he told Indonesian news portal tempo.co on Wednesday.
Cinemas in Jakarta were initially planned to reopen in late July, but it was postponed as the curve of COVID-19 cases in the city was still not flattened.
On Oct. 11, Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan decided to relax the large-scale social restrictions policy, known in the country by its acronym PSBB, in the capital after implementing full PSBB for about a month due to the increase of COVID-19 cases.
The city started another transitional phase of PSBB on Oct. 12 and it is expected to last until Oct. 25.
The latest data released by the Indonesian government on Wednesday showed the total cases of COVID-19 in the country increased to 373,109, with 12,857 deaths nationwide. Enditem
