Photo taken on March 24, 2022 shows the shuttered Shae Saung Cinema in downtown Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar's Ministry of Information has announced to reopen about 60 movie theaters in the country starting on April 17, in accordance with Health Ministry's COVID-19 prevention and control measures. (Xinhua/U Aung)
YANGON, March 24 (Xinhua) -- Myanmar's Ministry of Information has announced to reopen about 60 movie theaters in the country starting on April 17, in accordance with Health Ministry's COVID-19 prevention and control measures.
"Some 60 movie theaters were allowed to reopen in the first phase starting on April 17, Myanmar New Year, in line with standard operating procedures (SOPs) for reopening of theaters," U Aye Kywe, a director-general from the Ministry of Information, told Xinhua on Thursday.
Myanmar has seen a decline in COVID-19 cases over the past week, with daily cases dropping to 267 on Wednesday, when the ministry made the announcement of reopening movie theaters.
The operations of film industries and movie theaters stopped in Myanmar due to the coronavirus. Now the COVID-19 infection is under control in the country and the ministry decided to allow the reopening of theaters aiming to earn incomes for filmmakers and those working in the industry, he said.
The movie theaters in Myanmar were closed on March 16 in 2020 to cut the transmission of the virus through mass gatherings. ■
People walk past the shuttered Shae Saung Cinema in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, on March 24, 2022. Myanmar's Ministry of Information has announced to reopen about 60 movie theaters in the country starting on April 17, in accordance with Health Ministry's COVID-19 prevention and control measures. (Xinhua/U Aung)
People walk past the shuttered Thamada Cinema in downtown Yangon, Myanmar, on March 24, 2022. Myanmar's Ministry of Information has announced to reopen about 60 movie theaters in the country starting on April 17, in accordance with Health Ministry's COVID-19 prevention and control measures. (Xinhua/U Aung)