Costa, Nando’s and Subway have become the latest food and drink firms to temporarily close in the face of the coronavirus pandemic.
The chains have followed McDonald’s, which announced on Sunday it would close all of its restaurants – including its sit-in and drive-through functions – by 7pm on Monday.
A statement from Costa said: “As the need to support social distancing increases, we have taken the decision to temporarily close our stores from this evening, Monday, March 23.”
The coffee company said it would do its best to keep shops in hospitals open, where it will provide free takeaway coffee for NHS staff for two weeks.
Employees will continue to receive full average weekly pay for eight weeks.
Meanwhile, Nando’s said it has made the decision because its customers and team were its “highest priority”.
“We have decided that the best course of action right now is to temporarily close our restaurants until further notice,” a statement said.
Subway has authorised its franchise owners to close at 5pm until further notice.
The company said: “We believe this is the best thing to help support social distancing and keep everyone as healthy as possible for as long as possible.”
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