McDonald’s will start requiring customers coming into its restaurants to wear face masks starting on Aug. 1 as part of a new series of safety measures the company is taking as the coronavirus continues to spread across the country.
In a letter on Friday, Joe Erlinger, president of McDonald’s USA, and Mark Salebra, chair of the company’s National Franchise Leadership Alliance, said the Chicago-based burger giant would pause the reopening of dining rooms an additional 30 days and add more protective panels inside its restaurants.
“The latest science suggests droplets have the potential to stay in the air for extended periods of time, increasing the risk of virus spread, especially from asymptomatic carriers,” Erlinger and Salebra said in the letter.
Noting that the most recent guidance from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control recommends face coverings to prevent the spread of the virus, the two said the company and its franchisees will ask customers to wear face coverings starting a week from Saturday.
The decision makes McDonald’s the latest, and largest, restaurant chain to start requiring customers to cover their faces inside of its restaurants. It also adds the company’s considerable name to a growing list of major retailers taking that step, including giants like Walmart and Target.
It also has the potential to put the chain’s workers on the front lines of a battle over face coverings, as some resistance on the part of some customers to mask requirements has led to some heated confrontations, including inside many restaurants.
In this case, McDonald’s said it would offer masks to customers who do not have one. And customers who decline to wear a mask are guided to designated pickup spots a safe distance from other customers, while their order is expedited.
“The intent of this policy is to take a proactive approach and focus on quickly finding solutions when customers are unable or unwilling to wear a face covering,” Erlinger and Salebra said. They noted that the company plans to provide training for staff to help them address the new policy “in a friendly and positive way” and will share resources for employees who want to revisit de-escalation training.
McDonald’s also plans to add protective panels, including divider panels and barriers, for both the front and back of house. The panels are designed to allow the chain’s owner-operators to increase order taking and seating capacity along with staffing levels while still meeting social distancing guidelines.
The letter notes that the panels are an additional safety measure and are not a replacement for existing personal protection equipment or social distancing.
Yet McDonald’s also plans to put on hold for another month the reopening of its dining rooms. The company had previously put the reopening of dining rooms on hold amid concerns about the spread of the virus, and growing sales coming through the chain’s drive-thrus, which has eased concerns about the restrictions on franchisees’ sales and profits.
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