While McDonald’s restaurants in the U.S. will soon require customers to wear a mask to prevent the spread of COVID-19, locations in Canada have not followed suit.
Rather, McDonald’s Canada said patrons are being encouraged to don a face mask at its locations. The fast food giant is offering takeout, curbside delivery and drive-thru service options amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“For everyone’s safety, we encourage all guests to wear a mask or face covering when using our premises. Masks or face coverings must be worn where required by public health authorities. We will continue to monitor and adapt measures, where necessary,” a spokesperson said.
Guests at U.S. restaurants won’t be allowed to enter without wearing a face covering as of Aug. 1, McDonald’s announced Friday, joining many other companies, as well as governments, in mandating the use of masks in some form.
The company said if a customer refuses, procedures would be put in to “take care of them in a friendly, expedited way.”
“Additionally, we will provide training for our restaurant staff to ensure they are prepared to address this new policy in a friendly and positive way. We also will re-share resources for our and our franchisees’ employees who want to revisit de-escalation training,” the company said.
The measure comes amid an explosion of new coronavirus cases in the United States — more than 4 million Americans have been diagnosed overall and over 145,000 have died, according to Johns Hopkins University.
In both countries, employees are being supplied with disposable masks and other measures have been taken to prevent possible transmission of the virus.