McDonald's and Nando's to close all UK restaurants amid Covid-19

Restaurants like McDonald’s, Nando’s and Costa Coffee are joining hand by closing their outlets in UK amid coronavirus outbreak.

McDonald’s has closed over 1270 restaurants, Nando’s over 400 and the coffee chain Costa has closed more than 2000 restaurants in the country.

On Friday, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said restaurants and cafes must close, but exempted take-away food places.

The three chains said they wanted to protect the wellbeing of staff and customers during the coronavirus outbreak, reported BBC.

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The burger chain employs around 135,000 people in the UK, the majority of which are on zero-hours contracts. However, staff employed directly by the company would receive full pay for their scheduled hours until 5 April.

By that time it expects the government's financial aid package, announced on Friday, to have kicked in, with staff paid 80% of their wages.

Previously, McDonald's had closed its seating areas but had continued to offer takeaway and drive-through services.

In a tweet posted on Sunday night, Nando's said its bosses had "decided that the best course of action right now is to temporarily close our restaurants".

It said the health and safety of its customers and staff was its "highest priority".

Nando's has about 20,000 staff in the UK.