McDonald’s Hosts COVID-19 Safety Roundtable for Industry Peers, Featuring Mayo Clinic Experts

On December 2, McDonald’s hosted its first roundtable for quick service restaurant industry peers, featuring presentations from Mayo Clinic experts. This virtual knowledge-sharing event focused on workforce and customer safety during the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Stacey Rizza, M.D., infectious disease expert at Mayo Clinic, and six other Mayo Clinic subject matter experts made presentations on topics including:

·       COVID-19 science, including the mode of transmission and traits of SARS-CoV-2;

·       management and treatment of the virus;

·       an update on the forthcoming vaccine and how it will impact the current environment.

This event was the first of several planned industry roundtables hosted by McDonald’s to share knowledge and best practices with key stakeholders and peers. Attendees included representatives from QSR peer brands, as well as industry association partners.

McDonald’s staff from U.S. Operations and Global Restaurant Solutions Group presented some of the steps that McDonald’s U.S. and global markets have taken to proactively strengthen safety and wellness measures. These steps include more than 50 process changes made to U.S. operations, as well as global safety and wellness standards grounded in the latest science.

“In this situation, we’re all partners, not competitors,” said Bill Garrett, Senior Vice President for U.S. Operations. “All quick service restaurants need to stay vigilant as we keep serving communities. McDonald’s is glad to have outside expertise from Mayo Clinic so we can stay ahead of the developments and keep safety first and foremost in our decision making.”

To inform the company’s longer-term strategy in response to COVID-19, McDonald’s engaged Mayo Clinic in July of 2020 to review its approach and to share best practices around COVID-19 prevention for customer and crew safety.

McDonald’s has continued to evolve process changes in U.S. restaurants and globally. Encompassed in a framework called Safety+, these efforts build on more than six decades of safety-first leadership in McDonald’s restaurants, and supplement the work of global markets to help keep customers and crew safe.