O.C. courthouses, cinemas, Newport Film Festival, Newport to Ensenada among new coronavirus suspensions

The expanding list of closures aimed to stem the tide of the coronavirus outbreak now includes Orange County Superior Court and movie theaters.

The outbreak also forced postponement of the 21st annual Newport Beach Film Festival, which was scheduled for April. Instead, it will be held Aug. 6-13.

In addition, the Newport Ocean Racing Assn. announced Tuesday that the 73rd annual Newport to Ensenada International Yacht Race, scheduled for April, has been put off until next year.

Superior Court officials announced Monday night that all county courthouses — in Newport Beach, Santa Ana, Fullerton, Orange and Westminster — will be closed to the public through March 27.

Officials are working out details on how to handle arraignments and other legally required hearings, said Kostas Kalaitzidis, the Superior Court’s public information officer.

People called for jury duty do not have to appear. Jurors already doing service were advised to call the courtrooms where they are assigned for further instructions.

Employees are still expected to report to work, according to a court statement.

For more information, visit occourts.org.

Meanwhile, the Regal and AMC movie theater chains announced the closure of all their theaters effective Tuesday.

Regal, which operates the Edwards Cinemas brand that has locations in Costa Mesa and Newport Beach, said it is closing until further notice.

AMC said its closure would last six to 12 weeks.

Cinemark, which operates the Century cinema in Huntington Beach, and Starlight Cinemas, which runs Triangle Square Cinemas in Costa Mesa, said they would close their locations indefinitely.

Among smaller venues, the Port Theater in Newport Beach also is closed indefinitely.

The city of Costa Mesa called Tuesday morning for the closure of all movie theaters and fitness clubs in town and for restaurants to limit service to take-out and delivery, effective at the end of the night Tuesday, to help stop the spread of the virus.

Costa Mesa, Newport Beach, Laguna Beach and Huntington Beach have declared local health emergencies because of the coronavirus to focus their responses, coordinate with other government agencies and potentially receive federal and state funds to recover money spent on the response.

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