MOVIES are screening in Warrnambool to near-empty theatres, forcing a business to cancel casual shifts as patrons follow government restrictions to stem the spread of coronavirus.
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Warrnambool's Capitol Cinema has remained open and capped ticket sales to adhere with government "social distancing" and indoor gathering requirements.
The cinema is doing all it can to clean surfaces with bacterial spray and ensure fresh air flows through all theatres, but manager Greg Gent said far fewer people than the cap had bought tickets.
"It's such a strange situation, the restrictions that have come in aren't going to affect us because not many are coming anyway," Mr Gent said.
"It seems logical we will close eventually, I hope not, but it all just depends how bad it gets."
The business has about 20 casuals, many from younger demographics, but shifts have been cancelled for all but a handful of those staff.
"We rely on a lot of high school students and uni students, and we will have to cut back on that," Mr Gent said.
Casual worker Daniel Tobin has worked at the cinema for eight years and said the uncertainty was "rough".
"I'm not doing uni or anything else, this is all I have on, if it goes downhill I'm left to stay at home until we can rebuild," he said.
"It's a pretty horrible situation but not something we can control."
Mr Tobin said he would consider what government support was available to casuals in coming days.
In another hit to the business, a joint venture between Village Cinemas and south-west partners, the global release of movies such as James Bond 007 No Time to Die, Black Widow and Peter Rabbit II, have been delayed.
"We rely on new content each week. Our hands are tied a little bit, there is not a heap we can do outside of screening movies. People don't want to go to crowded areas, I can understand that," Mr Gent said.
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