West Midlands McDonald’s branch closes after five workers test positive for coronavirus

29 July 2020, 22:22

The fast-food outlet in Great Bridge, near Birmingham, temporarily closed its doors on Wednesday
The fast-food outlet in Great Bridge, near Birmingham, temporarily closed its doors on Wednesday. Picture: Google Street View

By Megan White

A McDonald’s restaurant has been forced to close after five workers tested positive for coronavirus.

The fast-food outlet in Great Bridge, near Birmingham, temporarily closed its doors on Wednesday after the outbreak.

There has been a jump in cases in the area, up from 23.2 cases per 100,000 people to 32.4, with 106 new cases.

A spokesman for McDonald's told The Sun: "We have pro-actively decided to temporarily close our Great Bridge restaurant as a precautionary measure following a rise of COVID-19 cases in the local area with five of our employees testing positive.

"We have been in contact with all the restaurant employees and also with Public Health England and the Environmental Health Officer.

"As with all of the decisions we have made across this unprecedented period, the safety of our people and customers is our absolute priority, and we will re-open as soon as we feel we can.”

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) said 45,961 people had died in hospitals, care homes and the wider community after testing positive for coronavirus in the UK as of 5pm on Tuesday, up by 83 from the day before.