Story Timeline:
- 12th April 2020 – Five McDonald’s Singapore employees diagnosed with COVID-19, 4 outlets closed until further notice
- 17th April 2020 – McDonald’s Singapore to suspend takeaway service as part of COVID-19 safe distancing measures (Current Article)
- 19th April 2020 – McDonald’s Singapore suspends all restaurant operations until May 4
- 20th April 2020 – McDonald’s moved workers around S’pore outlets during circuit breaker to ‘stay nimble with available manpower’
All McDonald’s outlets in Singapore will suspend takeaways from Saturday (Apr 18) until May 4.
The move is “an added safety precautionary measure to flatten the curve of COVID-19”, said the fast food chain in a media release on Friday.
Deliveries and drive-through service at selected outlets will remain.
McDonald’s Singapore managing director Kenneth Chan said this was a “proactive move” to keep its customers and employees safe.
“By temporarily stopping takeaway service, we can reduce interaction between our customers and employees during this circuit breaker period – and also enable more of our senior employees to stay at home over the next two weeks,” said Mr Chan.
With this move, the allocation of staff will be adjusted accordingly in each restaurant to support delivery orders and drive-through orders in McDonald’s kitchens.
McDonald’s added it will ensure delivery riders wait for food pick-ups in “a safe environment within the restaurant premises and comply strictly with social distancing measures”.
The company also said it will continue to pay salaries of employees, including seniors, whose roles will be disrupted during this period. This is “in appreciation for their support to fight the virus together”, said McDonald’s.
Earlier this month, five McDonald’s employees were diagnosed with COVID-19. The employees worked at outlets in Lido, Forum Galleria, Parklane and Geylang East Central.
All other employees working at the four outlets were subsequently told to serve a company-imposed 14-day leave of absence, regardless of whether they had come into contact with the confirmed cases.
