McDonald’s makes masks mandatory for all US customers in areas with high COVID-19 cases, regardless of whether they’re vaccinated

• McDonald’s said people must wear masks in US restaurants in areas with high COVID-19 transmission.
• This includes people who are fully vaccinated, it said.
• Companies are changing their plans on vaccinations and masks following new CDC guidance.
• See more stories on Insider’s business page.

McDonald’s said Monday that all its customers and staff would need to start wearing masks again inside its US restaurants in areas with high or substantial COVID-19 transmission, regardless of whether they are vaccinated or not.

McDonald’s also said that masks have always been mandatory for staff and customers who were not vaccinated.

Some companies have changed their plans on vaccinations and masking following the resurgence of COVID-19 cases in the US due to the Delta variant and new guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Last week, major companies including Alphabet’s Google, Uber, and Facebook said all their US employees must get vaccinated to step into offices.

Retailers have been slower to make announcements following the new CDC guidance. The United Food and Commercial Workers International Union said that the new guidelines don’t do enough to protect store workers, and that masks should be mandatory again.