by Thinus Ferreira
On Tuesday morning Nu Metro immediately shuttered all of the cinema chain's movie theatres in South Africa because of the rapid increase in Covid-19 cases as the novel coronavirus pandemic spreads in South Africa and globally.
Nu Metro's cinemas in Mozambique and Zambia will remain open.
Competitor Ster-Kinekor's cinema theatres remain open. TVwithThinus asked Ster-Kinekor on Tuesday morning whether it is also closing down but the company said it had no comment for now.
"Nu Metro management has decided to close all of its cinema complexes and accompanying operations in South Africa with immediate effect, following the governmental announcement of the national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus," Nu Metro told TVwithThinus on Tuesday in a statement.
"The precautionary measures for Nu Metro cinemas announced last week were implemented with full efficacy until the final movie shows in cinemas last night Monday 23 March 2020," the cinema chain said.
"We at Nu Metro consider the health of our customers and staff as top priority and we would again like to encourage all South Africans to follow all health, hygiene and other legal regulations as communicated by the department of health."
Nu Metro says that "Our cinemas will remain closed until the end of the lockdown, or as otherwise directed by the South African government."
Nu Metro says that its cinema operations in Mozambique and Zambia continue to trade with strict precautionary measures "in line with the current governmental directives in place there".
