AMC theaters open despite ongoing pandemic
Slowly but surely, non-essential establishments all over the country, including AMC movie theaters, are beginning to open up while trying their best to maintain social distancing protocols.
According to the AMC theaters, they are aiming to “bring back the 1920’s. . .by going all retro” and giving a huge discount on a majority of their movie tickets. Tickets that would usually cost between $8 and $20 are now 15 cents.
While this may be an enticing deal, it brings up the question: is it worth the risk? These prices are insanely cheap, and they most definitely are hard to pass. Like come on, $0.15 for a movie is such a great deal. Though, it is important to remember that because symptoms often do not show for up to two weeks, individuals unknowingly carrying COVID-19 could cause problems for others in attendance. What is more important: our health, or our desire to watch a movie?
While it is true that AMC may have lost a lot of money, opening up again could potentially lead to having to shut down again. As a whole, many businesses opened up, and then had to shut down after the second wave of the virus hit in June.
This is not to say that AMC is not taking any precautions. In order to comply with safety protocols, theaters lowered their capacity rate, now being capped off at 30 percent. They are also blocking off every other row of seats, disinfecting their entire auditorium between viewings and adding filters to their ventilating system.
On March 19, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the initial statewide “shelter in place” order, leading to a partial reopening on May 26. However, due to a second wave hitting later on, the entire state of California had to close down yet again on July 14.
Even with all the safety protocols being put in place in the theaters, the risk of COVID spreading is still high. With more and more people going out of their homes in hope that things are “normal,” the pandemic will never end and just be an ongoing issue in our society.
