As Maryland works to clamp down on public gatherings in a rush to limit the spread of coronavirus, some moviegoers are turning to smaller-capacity theaters to enjoy the big screen under the state’s new crowd limit.
With at least 31 cases as of Sunday morning, the Maryland Department of Health is asking the public to avoid crowds and practice social distancing to slow the virus’ spread. On Friday, Gov. Larry Hogan banned gatherings of more than 250 people at a time.
But outside the Regal 12 at Laurel Town Centre, whose capacity per showing doesn’t breach the rule, moviegoers on Saturday were determined on pushing forward with life as usual in a national crisis.
“I’m not afraid of the world, you know? You live your life and you go on. You stop getting panicked,” said William of Riverdale. He was checking to see which films were showing that evening.
Minutes later, another person walked up to check the showtimes. He introduced himself as Cobby, pronounced just like the late Kobe Bryant. “Now we have coronavirus. It’s been a great 2020, right?”
But Cobby said there would be lessons learned from it all: “That’s going to be the biggest thing. It’s going to bring awareness and, hopefully, make a lot more people pay attention to how they wash their hands and just be more clean. That’s what I think.”
Unfortunately, there was no luck on Cobby’s movie of choice.
“I wanted to see ‘The Photograph’, but they only got one showing of that. It was at 1 o’clock. That’s terrible,” he said.
Michele was part of a trio that went to see the animated film ‘Onward’.
“We’re living,” Michele said with a laugh.
“If it’s our time to go, it’s our time to go. I’m not going to sit there and be at home because I’m scared of some little virus. It is a big threat, but at the same time, we could be at home and the roof collapses, and we’re dead off of that. So you never know, when it’s your time, it’s your time.”
Simone, who works at a big box retailer, has seen a huge spike in customer flow due to the coronavirus.
“It’s all about perspective,” Simone said. “I’ve been through a lot of medical issues where I should’ve died but I didn’t. So I feel that if corona’s going to take me, so be it.”
“Movies are the least of my worries,” Simone noted, with a laugh.
Editor’s Note: The individuals interviewed for this story declined to give their last names out of concern for privacy.
