McDonald’s to Require Face Masks at All US Restaurants

McDonald’s is set to begin requiring that customers wear face masks at all of the company’s 14,000 U.S. restaurants. According to USA Today, McDonald’s announced its plan on Friday. The company has explained that the new company policy will go into effect on Aug. 1.

“While nearly 82% of our restaurants are in states or localities that require facial coverings for both crew and customers today, it’s important we protect the safety of all employees and customers,” McDonald’s said in its statement, adding that staff will be trained to handle the new policy “in a friendly and positive way.” The company continued, “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.” McDonald’s added, “In those situations where a customer declines to wear a face covering, we’ll put in place additional procedures to take care of them in a friendly, expedited way.”

McDonald’s has also said that it is going to postpone dining room re-openings for another 30 days and that it will add protective panels “to create even safer conditions for our employees and customers.” The company continued, “These conditions-based solutions are designed to safely allow owner/operators to increase order taking and seating capacity, as well as staffing levels while continuing to meet social distancing guidelines. The panels are an additional safety measure and not a replacement for consistent PPE execution or adherence to social distancing guidelines.”

The new McDonald’s policy comes after Walmart announced that it too is now requiring all customers to wear masks inside its stores. In a statement, Walmart explained its new policy and said, “As the number of confirmed cases has spiked in communities across the country recently, so too have the number and types of face covering mandates being implemented.” The company added, “To help bring consistency across stores and clubs, we will require all shoppers to wear a face covering starting Monday, July 20.

Walmart further stated how “this will give us time to inform customers and members of the changes, post signage and train associates on the new protocols.” In addition to the new mask policy, Walmart also revealed that it will be utilizing “health ambassadors” in all of its stores. These individuals will be there to remind customers of the local guidelines regarding mask-wearing, as well as the company policy.