Customers will once again need to wear a face covering while grabbing a bite to eat at the Golden Arches.
McDonald's announced Monday it is requiring customers and employees to wear masks at restaurants located in areas with high or substantial risk of COVID-19 transmission. You can check the status of your county here.
The fast-food giant said the policy change is in response to new guidance from the CDC, and applies to everyone regardless of vaccination status. The restaurant chain had previously dropped its mask mandate for fully vaccinated individuals in May.
More companies, including Target, Apple and Home Depot, are requiring all fully vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals to wear masks indoors as COVID-19 cases continue to surge across the country due to the spread of the delta variant. Other companies, including Walmart, Lowe's and Kohl's, are requiring staff to wear masks, while only encouraging shoppers to mask up as well.
The move to bring back mask mandates comes a week after the CDC issued new guidance recommending that people vaccinated for the coronavirus return to wearing masks indoors in areas with high or substantial transmission of COVID-19.
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation's top infectious disease expert, warned Sunday that more "pain and suffering" is on the horizon as COVID-19 cases climb again and officials plead with unvaccinated Americans to get their shots.
Currently, 58% of Americans age 12 and older are fully vaccinated, according to the CDC's data tracker.
