Covid did exacerbate the problem, but...

1. Lots of bad movies. Wokeness is a factor but it's only a small part.
2. Streaming has hurt as well for several reasons. The fact that the studios license films to the streamers sometimes six or eight weeks after theatrical release. Couple that with the bad movies and people aren't willing to risk going to the theaters cuz they might see another bad movie, rather than just wait for it to come onto a streaming platform.
3. Because costs has skyrocketed so much and the big studios need the yentpole movies to make money, less money is left over for lesser budget films.
4. Superhero, sequel, prequel, and whatever else fatigue has totally set in. Inconsidering how seldom now the next movie in a franchise is actually good, people aren't going, because they don't care.
5. And I actually think that the reserved seating thing has actually hurt movies. Don't get me wrong, being able to reserve your seat is so great because you don't have to worry about getting a bad one. But back in the day before reserve seating, you had to go to the theater Walk up to the box office, buy your tickets, and then wait in line. I don't know how many times I went to see one movie, but ended up seeing another one because the movie I wanted to see was sold out. No one does that anymore.

Just my two cents.