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People wear face masks outside a McDonald’s in New York City.
Noam Galai | Getty Images
McDonald’s will be conducting coronavirus safety reviews of its restaurants over the next six weeks, with health experts fearing Covid fatigue is contributing to the record number of new cases in the United States.
The seven-day average of new Covid-19 cases topped 131,400 on Thursday, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. According to a CNBC analysis, the rate of new daily infections is up 32% from the same period last week.
The surge in infections has prompted some states and municipalities to announce tougher restrictions ahead of the holiday season. New York State, for example, has a 10 p.m. nighttime curfew for indoor and outdoor dining. Some places, like McDonald’s hometown of Chicago, have once again banned indoor dining.
McDonald’s will conduct one visit per franchisee, according to an internal memo to US operators consulted by CNBC. The evaluations were created in collaboration with the franchise management. Charlie Strong, McDonald’s U.S. Field Director, National Franchisee Leadership Alliance President Mark Salebra, and Franchisee Tracy Johnstone wrote the letter.
Inspections will assess how well a franchisee is performing the “five highest operating minimums”. When complete, franchisees should ensure that the rest of their locations also follow best practices. The goal is to complete all tours by December 31st.
Strong, Salebra and Johnstone also stressed the importance of using equipment to enable contactless payment and make social distancing possible in kitchens.
“We will close by reminding the system that our actions are being watched very closely by consumers, crew members and other external stakeholders,” the letter reads.
The fast food giant has faced several lawsuits, alleging that the company’s franchisees failed to adequately protect them from contracting the virus. In one case, a Chicago judge found that McDonald’s had not been negligent but needed to better train its workers on social distancing and how to wear masks properly.
McDonald’s US President Joe Erlinger wrote in a Medium article published on Friday that the chain will convene several roundtable discussions to discuss its Covid-19 prevention practices with other industry players.
“It’s an area where we don’t see anyone as a competitor; the more an organization of our size and scale can share what we have learned, the more we can help make everyone safer, ”he said.
Erlinger also said the infection rate at McDonald’s restaurants is lower than that of the general U.S. population, but the company aims to eliminate new cases. He asked employees to report any suspicious cases through the chain’s Covid hotline.
“After all, the success of McDonald’s – just like the success of Walmart, Apple, Starbucks or any other US-based company – depends on our getting back to some version of normal as quickly as possible,” he wrote.
McDonald’s shares were almost flat on Friday afternoon. The stock, which has a market value of $ 164 billion, rose 7% this year.
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