McDonald’s closes dining rooms at its company-owned restaurants across the US with service limited to takeaways, deliveries and drive thru amid coronavirus crisis
- McDonald’s will close the dining room areas in its company-owned restaurants
- Fast food chain will also ask franchisees to close the seated parts of their sites
- Customers still able to order at the drive-thrus as well as get takeout or delivery
- McDonald’s owns roughly five per cent of its around 14,000 locations in the US
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McDonald’s will close its dining rooms at US restaurants and ask franchisees to do the same in a bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus.
The fast-food chain announced on Monday that it plans to close seated areas in the restaurants it owns.
Franchisees will also be asked to to the same and shutdown their dining rooms as a result of the viral outbreak.
Customers will still be able to order food and drinks at the drive-thru as well as getting takeout or deliveries, the company said.
McDonald’s will close its dining rooms and ask its franchisees to do the same. Pictured is a restaurant in Stuart, Florida
Mark Salebra, chair of McDonald’s National Franchisee Leadership Alliance, said in a statement: ‘Franchisee leadership completely supports the decision to adhere to social distancing guidelines and ensure that large groups of customers are not gathered together inside our restaurants.
‘We are committed to our role in supporting the communities in which we do business and protecting the public’s health by shifting our operations to Drive-Thru, walk-in take-out and McDelivery.’
McDonald’s owns roughly five per cent of its around 14,000 US sites.
From Monday, all PlayPlaces at US McDonald’s locations were closed, the statement said.
Customers will still be able to order at drive-thrus, as well as get takeout and deliveries after McDonald’s announced the closure of dining room areas. Pictured a McDonald’s drive-thru in Anaheim, Calfornina
McDonald’s said the decision was made with ‘expert local and national health authority guidance’.
The firm’s announcement on Monday follows similar measures from the likes of Starbucks, Chick-fil-A and Shake Shack.
It also comes as governors across the country have placed restrictions on restaurants, cafes, bars, movie theaters and gyms, sending major cities into lockdown.
Confirmed virus cases in the US surged passed 4,600 yesterday with more than 80 deaths.
Globally, there are more than 182,000 confirmed cases and more than 7,100 deaths.