McDonald’s will pause dine-in reopening across the U.S. as cases rise in the pandemic.
First reported by the Wall Street Journal, the announcement made in an internal letter at the company. Drive-thru, takeout, and delivery options will continue.
“COVID-19 cases are on the rise – with a 65 percent increase in infections over the last two weeks,” reads a letter from Joe Erlinger, McDonald’s US president, and Mark Salebra, the head of the National Franchisee Leadership Alliance. “In the last seven days, 32 states saw increasing cases and this number appears to be growing.”
The company leadership says McDonald’s must “act with the same mindset and discipline we employed throughout the crisis.” This includes employees and — in some areas — customers being required to wear masks, continuing wellness and temperature checks, and enforcing social distancing.
“This surge shows nobody is exempt from this virus – even places that previously had very few cases,” the letter reads. “Moving forward, we will continue to monitor the situation and adjust as needed to protect the safety of our employees and customers.”
McDonald’s based in Illinois had been allowed to reopen at 25% capacity for dine-in service last Friday morning when the state entered Phase 4 of ‘Restore Illinois.’
