A Doctor’s Letter About TN 100% Theater Occupancy Goes Viral

Tamil Nadu’s order of 100% occupancy of cinema theatres draws criticism, MHA too asks govt to review guidelines

The Tamil Naidu government issued orders allowing 100% occupancy of cinema theatres just a couple of days ago. The TN government’s decision raked up discussion in the wake of the increasing number of Corona cases and the threat of a new strain of the virus.

The orders giving green signal to overlook social distancing in cinema halls has drawn criticism from various quarters. A post by a doctor on social media on the issue became viral and made the authorities put on the thinking cap.

Aravind Srinivas, working as a resident doctor in Jawaharlal Institute of Post Graduate Medical Education and Research (JIPMER), urged the authorities to rethink about their decision. He also addressed actors Tamil heroes Vijay and Simbu in his post.

He wrote:

I am tired. We are all tired. Thousands of doctors like me are tired. Health care workers are tired. Police officials are tired. Sanitary workers are tired.

We have worked so hard at the ground level to make sure the damage done is kept to as low as possible amidst an unprecedented pandemic. I am not glorifying our work for I know there is nothing so great about it to the onlooker’s eyes. We don’t have cameras in front of us. We don’t do stunt sequences. We aren’t heroes.

But we deserve some time to breath. We don’t want to fall prey to someone’s selfishness and greed.

The pandemic isn’t over and we have people dying till today to the disease. A hundred percent theatre occupancy is a suicide attempt. Rather homicide ,for none of the policy makers or the so called heroes are going to put themselves under the pump, to watch the movie amidst the crowd. This is a blatant barter system, trading lives for money.

Can we please slowly try and concentrate on our lives and make sure we tide through this pandemic peacefully and not reignite the slowly burning out flame, that is still not completely put out?

I wanted to make this post scientific and explain why we are still in danger. But that’s when I asked myself, “what’s the point?”

Yours tiredly

A poor, tired resident doctor

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Home Affairs on Wednesday asked the Tamil Nadu government to “immediately issue necessary order” to bring their guidelines in line with that of the MHA issued for Covid-19 containment after the state increased seating capacity of cinema theatres from 50% to 100%.

“The Government of Tamil Nadu order of permitting increase the seating capacity of cinema/theatres/ multiplexes from existing 50% to 100% is dilution of MHA order. States and UT shall not dilute guidelines issued under DM act in any manner,” the MHA said in a statement.