The Curzon cinema chain is considering offering movie-goers the option of attending screenings reserved exclusively for customers who have proof of a Covid-19 vaccine – alongside screenings where no jab is required.
The announcement came as debate intensified over whether venues such as pubs and nightclubs will require customers to be inoculated. Philip Knatchbull, chief executive of the 21-strong Curzon chain, said giving customers a choice would avoid having to impose a blanket rule, which could trigger legal issues around discrimination.
“Personally, I am not a supporter,” said Knatchbull. “It is extremely difficult to monitor and more importantly it would prejudice against the minority of people who don’t get a vaccine.
“We may get around that by having some screenings where people may need proof of vaccination and some that don’t. We are trying to think how to make our customers comfortable and how our brand should be best reflected by offering flexibility.”
(March 8, 2021) Step 1, part 1
In effect from 8 March, all pupils and college students returned fully. Care home residents could receive one regular, named visitor.
(March 29, 2021) Step 1, part 2
In effect from 29 March, outdoor gatherings allowed of up to six people, or two households if this is larger, not just in parks but also gardens. Outdoor sport for children and adults allowed. The official stay at home order ended, but people encouraged to stay local. People still asked to work from home where possible, with no overseas travel allowed beyond the current small number of exceptions.
(April 12, 2021) Step 2
In effect from 12 April, non-essential retail, hair and nail salons, and some public buildings such as libraries and commercial art galleries reopened. Most outdoor venues can reopen, including pubs and restaurants, but only for outdoor tables and beer gardens. Customers will have to be seated but there will be no need to have a meal with alcohol.
Also reopen are settings such as zoos and theme parks. However, social contact rules still apply here, so no indoor mixing between households and limits on outdoor mixing. Indoor leisure facilities such as gyms and pools can also open, but again people can only go alone or with their own household. Reopening of holiday lets with no shared facilities is also allowed, but only for one household. Funerals can have up to 30 attendees, while weddings, receptions and wakes can have 15.
(May 17, 2021) Step 3
From 17 May people can be able to meet indoors in groups of up to six or as two households, or outdoors in groups of up to 30 people. People can also choose whether to socially distance with close family and friends, meaning that they can sit close together and hug. In care homes, residents can have up to five named visitors and be entitled to make low risk visits out of the home.
People can meet in private homes, or in pubs, bars and restaurants, which will all be able to reopen indoors. Weddings, receptions and other life events can take place with up to 30 people. The cap on numbers attending funerals will depend on the size of the venue.
Most forms of indoor entertainment where social distancing is possible will also be able to resume, including cinemas, museums and children’s play areas. Theatres, concert halls, conference centres and sports stadia will have capacity limits in place.
Organised adult sport and exercise classes can resume indoors and saunas and steam rooms will reopen. Hotels, hostels and B&Bs in the UK will allow overnight stays in groups of up to six people or two households.
People will also be able to travel to a small number of countries on the green list and will not have to quarantine on return.
Pupils will no longer be expected to wear face coverings in classrooms or in communal areas in secondary schools and colleges as a result of decreasing infection rates. Twice weekly home testing will remain in place. School trips with overnight stays will also now be possible.
(June 21, 2021) Step 4
No earlier than 21 June, the government had planned that all legal limits would be removed on mixing, and the last sectors to remain closed, such as nightclubs, would reopen. Large events would be able take place. However, the prime minister has said that the rise of the B.1.617.2 variant of coronavirus first detected in India may threaten this date, and health secretary Matt Hancock said it will not be confirmed before 14 June whether the government plans to stick to the timetable.
Peter Walker Political correspondent and Rachel Hall
He said he was in talks with the UK Cinema Association (UKCA), which represents most cinema owners across the country, and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, and that Curzon has yet to come to a final decision.
Under Boris Johnson’s roadmap to ease coronavirus restrictions through the summer cinemas will be allowed to reopen from 17 May, unless the pandemic situation deteriorates. The prime minister has set a target of vaccinating every adult by the end of July. However, certain groups will miss out, including women who are pregnant and children, potentially making them ineligible for entry to venues if a blanket ban is imposed.
The biggest three UK cinema chains – Cineworld, Vue and Odeon – all declined to comment specifically on whether they were considering offering separate screenings.
Knatchbull’s tentative plan may provide a workable blueprint for the wider industry, which is against being forced to check vaccination status and bar people from entry.
There is “widespread opposition” across the industry to the idea that people might be required to show evidence of a vaccination or negative test before being allowed into a cinema, the UKCA said.
“Even when the current vaccine rollout is complete, there will still be significant numbers of people who will not have been vaccinated,” said Phil Clapp, UKCA chief executive. “These include pregnant women, people with certain disabilities or underlying conditions and young people aged 18 and under. Making proof of vaccination a condition of entry to a cinema will potentially introduce significant issues of discrimination under the Equalities Act 2010.”
He added that such a system would also make the financial recovery of the cinema sector, which at the start of last year comprised almost 850 cinemas across the UK, much more difficult.
Their pandemic-enforced closure for much of last year resulted in admissions in the UK slumping to the lowest level since records began in 1928. Similarly, the box office take in the UK and Ireland totalled just £307m last year, a year-on-year decrease of more than 80%, the lowest take in three decades.
The parlous state of the industry was highlighted on Thursday when Cineworld, the largest cinema operator in the UK and second biggest globally, reported a record $3bn (£2.2bn) loss for 2020.
