Cinemas around the capital city of Ireland have closed yet again until further notice under new lockdown restrictions that came into effect from midnight last night.
Under the new guidelines, all restaurants are being moved to outdoor dining and takeaway only, while pubs that don't serve food are to remain closed. All cultural venues, including galleries, theatres, and cinemas, are now closed.
The IFI, which just recently reopened after the lockdown restrictions were first eased, has closed its doors yet again. In its statement, the IFI thanked those who had supported the cinema since reopening since August 26th.
All cinemas across the country have enforced a strict 50-person attendance rule per screen, wit cinemas operating at reduced capacities in order to ensure social distancing guidelines are maintained.
It's understood that the restrictions on Level 3 will be lifted from October 10th, however, the likelihood is that the situation doesn't improve by then, lockdown could very well be extended for a further three weeks.
In his address to the nation, Taoiseach Micheál Martin said that "(the) fact is that while we are seeing a lot of infection in people’s homes, the initial infection is taking place in the community."
Taoiseach Martin said that we need to "act now and in common purpose."
