Reopening of entertainment centres

Press release

October 10, 2021

With His Majesty at the frontline and aided by the prayers of the religious bodies and support of every Bhutanese in the country and beyond, we have succeeded in keeping our communities clear of COVID-19 for almost two months now.   

This is despite the fact that many nations are today recording the highest number of cases since the start of the pandemic. However, in consonance with the heightened surveillance in the communities and keeping with the epidemiological status of COVID-19 in the country, the government is ensuring cautious reopening of the activities.  

This time around, we are pleased to announce the reopening of the entertainment centres in the 𝐥𝐨𝐰-𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐤 areas. 

The entertainment groups comprise cinema halls, karaoke, discotheques, pubs, snookers, live music and night clubs. We share the details below.    

1. The cinema halls are allowed to operate with 50 percent capacity, ensuring seating arrangements that match the COVID-19 protocols. 
2.  All other entertainment centres must not accommodate more than 50 heads at a given time. The owners and organisers must ensure that every individual entering the facility use Druk Trace app that will validate the attendance limit while monitoring. Entities that seek to accommodate more than 50 heads must seek antigen test result with validity of one week from every individual.  
3. All entertainment centres are allowed to operate until 10pm. 
4. Drayangs will not be allowed to operate for now and a separate notification will be issued on this. 
5.  Hereafter, a maximum attendance of 50 heads will be permitted at a time for events and gatherings in low-risk areas. The ceiling of 25 individuals will prevail in the high-risk areas and any count beyond shall be subjected to the approval of the local taskforce. 
6. Enhanced surveillance and monitoring will be carried out by the RBP, entertainment committee and other relevant agencies. 𝐍𝐨𝐧-𝐚𝐝𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭 𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬, 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐛𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞𝐬.  
7. The notification will come into 𝐢𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐞𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭. 

We understand the hardship the entertainment centres have endured over the months as the disease containment measures forced them closed. These sacrifices have made a huge difference in combating the pandemic and in bringing us to where we are today. 

Unfortunately, these relaxations cannot be considered for the high-risk areas given the threat that prevails round the clock, but we are hopeful that this will all come to an end soon. Here, we also acknowledge the inconvenience the seven-day quarantine requirement has posed to our people. 

It is with these measures that we are able to relax restrictions for rest of the country and we remain grateful for your cooperation until now. We have come a long way. Let us continue with the same spirit and solidarity to put the pandemic behind us, once and for all.