McDonald’s to Halt the Opening of U.S. Locations as Coronavirus Surges

According to a Wall Street Journal report, fast food giant McDonald’s has decided to halt the re-opening of its U.S. restaurants as coronavirus cases have been spiking in states such as Texas, Arizona and California.

The company has paused its U.S. reopening plans for 21 days according to an internal letter that was viewed by Bloomberg.

Franchisees who have already reopened dining rooms and are not facing any rollbacks from local officials can decide if they want to keep them open. About 1,000 out of McDonald’s 14,000 U.S. locations have reopened with reduced seating capacity, as of mid-June.

McDonald’s has urged franchisees to be disciplined about safety measures. “To be clear: owner/operators will make the final decision in these situations,” Joe Erlinger, head of McDonald’s U.S. division, and Mark Salebra, chair of the National Franchisee Leadership Alliance, wrote in a note to franchisees on Wednesday that was viewed by CNBC.

“This surge shows nobody is exempt from this virus – even places that previously had very few cases,” they wrote. “Moving forward, we will continue to monitor the situation and adjust as needed to protect the safety of our employees and customers.”

“Our resiliency will be tested again,” wrote the men. “COVID-19 cases are on the rise – with a 65% increase in infections over the last two weeks. In the last seven days, 32 states saw increasing cases and this number appears to be growing.”

The men said, “This surge shows nobody is exempt from this virus – even places that previously had very few cases.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in McDonald’s Corp. (NYSE: MCD) and have not been compensated for this article.