WASHINGTON: Movie theatres in Malaysia are set to shut down once again as the country is currently dealing with the third wave of the coronavirus.
According to Variety, a nationwide state of emergency was announced early on Tuesday (local time) on behalf of the King Al-Sultan Abdullah.
As per a palace statement quoted by Variety, the emergency could last until August 1, depending on the state of coronavirus infections, according to a palace statement.
After the relaxation of social conditions in December, the positive coronavirus cases in Malaysia have jumped as the country on Monday (local time) recorded 2,232 new confirmed cases, bringing the active total to 28,500 and the running total since early 2020 to 135,000 with 550 deaths.
Chains of movie theatres including Golden Screen Cinemas, TGV and others shared on their social media accounts that the theatres will be shut from Wednesday (local time) and that the cost of the pre-paid tickets will be reimbursed.
"The effect is to put us back to where we were at the beginning of November. This time, we expect the MCO to be renewed for two weeks at a time for some months," Irving Chee, GM at GSC, told Variety.
As a result of the impact of the coronavirus on the economy, one of the country's cinema chain, MBO, had earlier headed for liquidation.