Chick-fil-A shuts down seating areas to prevent people from eating in stores during the coronavirus outbreak
- Chick-fil-A announced on Monday that it would be shutting down its dining room seating in an effort to limit person-to-person contact amid the coronavirus outbreak.
- The chicken chain said that some locations will only offer drive-thru service, while others will offer takeout, delivery, or mobile orders.
- Starbucks and Taco Bell have announced similar measures to encourage social distancing and prevent the spread of coronavirus.
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Chick-fil-A is no longer letting customers eat in locations, as the fast-food chain attempts to encourage social distancing during the coronavirus outbreak.
The chain announced on Monday that it is temporarily closing its dining room seating, in an effort to help limit person-to-person contact.
"Some of our restaurants may only offer service through our drive-thrus, while others may be able to offer takeout, delivery or mobile order options," Chick-fil-A said in a statement. "Thanks for your patience. We know these are challenging times, but we'll continue to do our best to serve you."
Taco Bell and Starbucks recently made similar announcements. On Friday, Taco Bell announced that all locations in the US would offer delivery and drive-thru only. On Sunday, Starbucks announced it would no longer offer seating in locations, removing seats from coffee shops and closing some locations in particularly busy areas.
This weekend, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts, and Washington announced that restaurants would be closed or banned from offering dine-in service. Cities including New York and Los Angeles have announced similar efforts to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Last week, Chick-fil-A announced that it would serve all meals in carry-out packaging and drive-thru customers would no longer be offered printed menus. At the time, the chain had shut down its playgrounds but was allowing customers to dine in at locations.
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