New York theaters may reopen, after almost a year of being closed, from 5 March and with limited capacity, reported today the governor of that state, Andrew Cuomo.

During his daily press conference, the highest authority in New York said that the city's cinemas will be able to operate at 25% of its capacity, with no more than 50 people, and will require other security measures such as chinstraps, social distancing and increased hygiene measures, reported the specialized site Variety.

In the last weeks, the governor gave permission to large stadiums such as Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center to reopen starting Tuesday with limited capacity. Likewise, outdoor amusement parks will be able to receive visitors from 9 of April.

New York-based film exhibitors had been publicly arguing with Cuomo in recent months about the governor's reluctance to allow theaters to reopen.. They considered it unfair that restaurants, sports stadiums and other public institutions did have approval to work.

But nevertheless, coronavirus cases have fallen below the 3% for the first time since November. That statistic, combined with ongoing vaccine launch, gave confidence to state officials to allow this reopening.

During today's press conference, Cuomo noted that movie theater employees do not qualify as essential workers when it comes to receiving doses of the Covid-19 vaccine..

"Not all companies that are open have a preference [vaccine] for those employees. One of the headquarters of the Regal Cinemas”, indicated the mayor.

Cuomo's term is tight, but major networks like Cinemark and AMC have gotten used to reopening their cinemas in Chicago and Portland in a matter of days. That experience means that the date of 5 March for a grand reopening seems doable. (TELAM)