Taco Bell prepares to go 'drive-thru and delivery only' amid coronavirus outbreak
FILE - Taco Bell logo is seen in Mountain View, California
Taco Bell doesn't plan to close during the coronavirus pandemic, but restaurant dining rooms may soon be off-limits.
The fast-food chain recently announced that it's taking steps to close dining areas, operating only through drive-thru and delivery options.
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Mark King, CEO of Taco Bell Corp., posted a letter Saturday stating that the company has "an obligation to do something to help stop this from spreading."
Taco Bell has been doing more to clean its restaurants, but King said additional action must be taken.
"As regions of the U.S. begin to mandate public closures and self-quarantine, we are equipping our restaurants to serve our guests via drive-thru and delivery only where necessary," he wrote. " Should we need to temporarily close our dining rooms, we would be limiting millions of guest interactions and further enabling social distancing."
King also discussed steps the company is taking to help employees.
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"Because our people are the heart of our organization, and we understand the impact these actions can have, we’re amending our sick policy at our company-owned U.S. restaurants to better accommodate our teams while ensuring no one works who is sick," he said. "We’ll be paying employees who are required to stay at home, or who work at a restaurant that is closed, for their scheduled or regularly scheduled hours during their time away from work. We’re actively working with our franchise partners to encourage a similar approach."
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The company says it will advise customers as new information becomes available.