MILAN – In its continued effort in prioritizing the health and well-being of partners (employees) and customers, Starbucks yesterday announced that beginning on July 15, it will be requiring customers to wear facial coverings while visiting all company-owned café locations in the US.
At select locations where a local government mandate is not in place, customers that may not be wearing a facial covering will have various options to order their Starbucks, including ordering at the drive-thru, curbside pickup through the Starbucks app or placing an order for delivery through Starbucks Delivers.
The company is committed to playing a constructive role in supporting health and government officials as they work to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
The company also emphasized that it will continue enhanced cleaning measures and other precautions to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed over 133,000 people in the U.S. according to Johns Hopkins University.
The news comes after an altercation between a Starbucks barista and a customer went viral, in which the customer refused to wear a mask, asked for the barista’s name, took a photo of him and said she would call the corporate offices, reports Usa today.
Other companies such as Uber and Costco have extended their mask requirements indefinitely throughout the U.S. as coronavirus cases continue to rise across several states.
Major retailers are also urging governors to make it a requirement for everyone to wear a mask, as viral videos surface of shoppers’ tirades and confrontations over the use of face coverings.
Facial coverings or mask requirements have become a political issue, leading to a patchwork of mandates across various states. Roughly 20 states and Washington, DC, have a statewide mask mandate, while several, including in new hotspots Arizona and Florida, do not.
