Hong Kong cinemas to close from July 15 after fresh wave of COVID-19 infections

As Hong Kong is reeling under a fresh wave of COVID-19 infections, cinema houses in the city will be closed from July 15 night.

According to Variety, the move was part of a slew of new measures announced on Monday evening by Chief Executive Carrie Lam in response to a new surge in coronavirus cases.

New social distancing measures will halt restaurant dining from 6 pm till 5 am every day and make wearing masks mandatory on public transport at all times.

The maximum size of group gatherings, which had been expanded to 50 people in recent weeks, will be reduced to just four people.

In recent days, the number of COVID-19 cases have climbed up again, after weeks without any cases of local transmission of the virus.

On Monday, health authorities reported 52 new cases and one death. Of the 52, 11 were new imported cases. The other 41, included 21 linked to known local clusters and the source of infection in 20 cases has so far been unidentified. Including the Monday cases, Hong Kong has recorded 1,522 cases of infection and eight deaths. Earlier, cinema halls in Hong Kong were closed for a period of six weeks between the end of March and early May.

The Hong Kong premiere of Korean zombie action film 'Peninsula', which was expected to become one of the highest-grossing films this summer, was to be held on Wednesday but now stands cancelled.

The new measures also mean the closure of public libraries, major performance venues and indoor sports facilities.

( With inputs from ANI )