McDonald's asks US franchisees to close dining rooms amid coronavirus outbreak

• McDonald's is closing the dining rooms of its U.S. company-owned restaurants.
• The company is asking its U.S. franchisees to do the same for their locations.
• McDonald's owns about 5% of its roughly 14,000 U.S. restaurants. 

Pedestrians walk past a McDonald's Corp. restaurant in the Shibuya district of Tokyo, Japan, on Monday, Jan. 20, 2020.

Noriko Hayashi | Bloomberg | Getty Images

McDonald's on Monday is asking its U.S. franchisees to close their dining rooms as the company responds to the coronavirus outbreak.

The fast-food giant plans to close the dining rooms in its company-owned locations in the U.S. Customers will be able to order their food and drinks for takeout or delivery or via the drive-thru.

McDonald's owns about 5% of its roughly 14,000 U.S. restaurants. 

"Franchisee leadership completely supports the decision to adhere to social distancing guidelines and ensure that large groups of customers are not gathered together inside our restaurants," Mark Salebra, chair of McDonald's National Franchisee Leadership Alliance, said in a statement.

McDonald's announcement on Monday follows similar measures from the likes of Starbucks, Chick-fil-A and Shake Shack. It also comes as governors across the country place restrictions on restaurants and bars.