Cinema halls and theatres will be permitted to operate with higher occupancy, the central government on Wednesday declared in its new COVID-19 guidelines.

The new version of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) have been declared after India saw decrease in new COVID-19 cases. The change will come to effect from February 1 (Monday).

The press release read, "Cinema halls and theatres have already been permitted upto 50% of seating capacity. Now they will be permitted to operate at higher seating capacity, for which a revised SOP will be issued by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting in consultation with MHA (the Ministry of Home Affairs).”

Cultural, religious, social, entertainment, sports, educational, gatherings which were allowed upto a maximum of 50 per cent of the hall capacity, with a cap of 200 persons in closed spaces, have now been relaxed. The Centre said that such gatherings will be permitted subject to the SOP of the concerned State and Union Territory.

Apart from theatres, swimming pools have been allowed for use by all, earlier it was limited to only sportspersons and coaches. Also, all Business to Business (B2B) exhibition halls have been allowed to open.