UPDATE - 25 March, 14:47 Nu Metro’s cinema complex and accompanying operations at Arcades Mall in Lusaka, Zambia will close from Thursday, 26 March - following the governmental announcement of the 14-day national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Nu Metro cinemas have closed with immediate effect following President Cyril Ramaphosa's announcement of a national lockdown to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
In a statement to Channel24, the cinema chain said that Nu Metro management has decided to close all of its cinema complexes and accompanying operations in South Africa with immediate effect.
The company added that the stringent hygiene plan they had put in place last week in response to the coronavirus pandemic was implemented with full efficacy until the showing of the final movie in cinemas last night.
"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.
"Our cinemas will remain closed until the end of the lockdown, or as otherwise directed by the South African government.
"Nu Metro's cinema operations in Mozambique continue to trade with strict precautionary measures, in line with the current governmental directives in place there."
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— Nu Metro (@numetro) March 24, 2020
It's just an intermission, not the end of the movie! We will be back soon. pic.twitter.com/9hMqci29PX
On Monday, the Labia, an independent cinema in Cape Town announced that they will temporarily close their doors for three weeks.
The latest number of confirmed cases of Covid-19 in South Africa is 554.