Coronavirus: Nando’s and Costa close all restaurants ‘until further notice’

McDonald’s also recently announced closure of all restaurants in UK and Ireland

Nando’s and Costa will close all of their restaurants across the UK in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

In a statement shared on the Nando’s official Twitter account, it emphasised that the “health and safety” of its customers and members of staff is its “highest priority”

“We have decided that the best course of action right now is to temporarily close our restaurants until further notice,” the statement read.

“We will keep you updated on our channels. We’ll see you soon. Lots of love.”

Just a few hours before sharing its statement, the Nando’s UK Twitter account assured a customer that its takeaway and delivery services were still operating.

The company’s decision to close more than 400 restaurants across the nation comes following Boris Johnson’s call for many establishments including pubs, restaurants and gyms to close in order to prevent further spread of Covid-19.

On Friday, the prime minister said during the daily news conference at No 10 Downing Street that “literally thousands of lives” will be saved if the British public follow advice to avoid social gatherings.

“These measures are intended to be temporary,” he added. “The speed of our eventual recovery depends entirely on our collective ability to get on top of the virus now.”

Costa also recently informed its patrons that it is temporarily closing all of its stores, stating that the decision was made “as the need to support social distancing increases”.

“We will do our best to keep Costa stores open in hospitals where we will continue to provide free takeaway coffee for the next two weeks to the NHS workers who are at the forefront of this crisis,” the firm said on Twitter.

“Wherever possible, we will also keep our Costa Express machines available to serve you a great cup of coffee.”

It was recently announced that McDonald’s is to close the doors of all of its restaurants across the UK and Ireland.

Having previously still offered customers takeaway and drive thru services, the fast food chain said in a statement that it had made “the difficult decision to close all McDonald’s restaurants in the UK and Ireland by 7pm on Monday 23 March at the latest”.

“This is not a decision we are taking lightly, but one made with the wellbeing and safety of our employees in mind as well as in the best interests of our customers,” the firm stated.

Prior to the announcement of the closure of its stores, one McDonald’s restaurant was found to be going the extra mile to make sure that customers adhered to social distancing guidelines.

A customer at a McDonald’s restaurant in Cambridge spotted that boxes had been marked on the floor in tape, indicating where customers should stand so as to not be too near to one another.