McDonald’s will soon require face masks in restaurants across the US, company says

McDonald’s announced Friday it will join the growing list of businesses that require customers to wear masks during the coronavirus pandemic.

The company says it will implement three new rules to help combat the spread of COVID-19, according to a release on McDonald’s website. Customers will be required to wear face coverings inside McDonald’s restaurants, the company will add more protective panels where customers order and where employees work, and it will pause reopening dine-in services for 30 days, the release says.

The mask requirement will go into effect Aug. 1, according to the release.

“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,” the release says.

It did not specify if masks are required for drive-thrus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone wear masks in public, citing growing evidence that face coverings are effective in stopping the spread of COVID-19, the agency says on its website.

McDonald’s joins the list of major chains that require customers to wear masks, including Walmart, Kroger, Costco, Walgreens, Starbucks and several others.

There are more than 4 million confirmed cases of coronavirus in the U.S. as of Friday, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. The U.S. has reported 144,734 deaths resulting from COVID-19, Johns Hopkins reported.

This story was originally published July 24, 2020 at 1:40 PM with the headline "McDonald’s will soon require face masks in restaurants across the US, company says."