Deputy Chairman Of Commission X DPR Says Cinema Opening Is Not Urgent

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JAKARTA - Deputy Chairman of Commission X DPR Abdul Fikri Faqih said that the opening of cinemas during the COVID-19 pandemic should be considered again. Whenever it is opened, he suggests that there is a need to implement stricter health protocols.

"In my opinion, this is not urgent. But if the consideration is to increase the economy and reduce stress on the community, it must be very strict. Testing, isolating, and tracing must be done. But, for me, I prefer not to (open it) to the cinema," he said. Fikri was contacted by VOI, Friday, August 28.

According to him, when cinemas are opened without strict health protocols, it is feared that they will become a cluster for the spread of the COVID-19 virus. This is different from the case with the government's efforts to open tourism to improve the country's economy.

"For outdoor, outdoor tourist entertainment destinations, this has a lower risk than indoor ones. And, recently, most of the new clusters are based on indoor space, one plane, one office and so on," said this PKS politician.

Fikri encourages the film industry to work through the digital market. According to Fikri, instead of watching films in theaters during the pandemic, he encouraged the public to watch via paid online channels.

"Actually, films can be enjoyed without a cinema, enjoyed through online payments. That means people download and so on. This is in the realm of the creative industry. Meanwhile, cinema is a conventional realm. So it is better to encourage the film sector through digitalization, to further develop the online market. "Marketing, marketing system, pushed to digital or online," he said.

Previously, Wiku Adisasmito, Chairman of the COVID-19 Task Force Expert Team, was required to open a cinema. This is because people are entertained when they watch the cinema, so the body's immunity is strong.

Wiku emphasized that there are several things that need to be considered when the manager reopens the cinema. That is, all employees must understand the application of health protocols. The manager ensures that the queues in and out of the cinema facilities are closely monitored about keeping people's physical distance.

Then, the age of visitors who can enter the cinema is limited, namely the age range of 12 years to under 60 years. Visitors who come do not have other comorbidities such as heart disease, diabetes, lung disease, kidney disease, and other low immunity diseases.

The audience must also be required to always wear a mask from the start of entering the cinema, theater room, until after watching a film. While watching, try not to eat or drink.

Then, there needs to be an arrangement to maintain the distance between the seats in watching, so that there is no contact between visitors, as well as no contact with the officers working.

Meanwhile, DKI Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan has a reason why cinemas can be opened again. "In the cinema, everyone is silent. If there is a conversation, then the conversation is between people who know. There are rarely conversations between people who do not know," said Anies, Wednesday, August 26.

Then, when the audience chats with a familiar person, the direction of the chat position is done in one direction. All face to face in the same direction, namely staring at the screen of the film player.

"Everything is talking in the same direction, not face to face interactions. This is a rather unique nature of the activity," said Anies.