Kolkata, March 17 (TIWN) All cinema halls in West Bengal will remain closed till March 31, while film shoots in the state would remain suspended upto March 30 in view of the novel coronavirus threat, various stakeholders announced on Tuesday.

"We have decided that all cinema halls will remain shut till March 31 and the decision will come into effect immediately," an EIMPA official said.  The official said though the industry would suffer huge losses, the priority now was to take all measures do as to combat the lethal disease.  "There will be huge losses if cinema halls are closed for such a long period, considering the present situation of the Bengal film industry. We will use time till March 31 to find out ways to recover the losses," She said.A  The EIMPA decision comes a day after stare Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee stressed on closing down all cinema halls for the time being to help tackle the COVID-19 threat.