Cinema Halls With 50% Seating Capacity, Religious Places to Reopen in Kerala From Jan 5

Talking about the vaccine drive in his state, the Kerala CM said his state is fully prepared for the purpose and COVID-19 vaccine will be made available this month itself.

New Delhi: Part of the unlocking process, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Friday announced that the cinema halls and theatres in his state will reopen from January 5 with half of seating capacity. He also stated that the festive celebrations at places of worship will also be allowed with limited audience from the same date.

“Cinema halls and theatres to reopen in Kerala from January 5 with half of seating capacity. Festive celebrations at places of worship will also be allowed with limited audience,” Vijayan said in a statement.

Talking about the vaccine drive in his state, he said his state is fully prepared for the purpose and COVID-19 vaccine will be made available this month itself.

“As per the information from the Central government, COVID-19 vaccine will be made available this month itself. First it will be administered to health workers. Kerala is fully prepared for vaccination,” Vijayan added.

The development comes at a time when the state recorded 4,991 new cases, 5,153 recoveries and 23 deaths on Friday. Total number of active cases now stands at 6,5054, he said.

The Central government had in October released guidelines about reopening of cinema halls and religious places but Kerala was ready for the purpose looking at the coronaviorus situation. The decision to not opening such public places was taken by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and differed from that of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, where the state governments gave the green signal to open up theatres.