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Starbucks Says Customers Must Wear Masks At Its Cafes

NPR | By Austin Horn
Published July 9, 2020 at 7:50 PM EDT
People gathered outside of a Starbucks coffee shop at Venice Beach in Los Angeles last month. The company's order for all customers to wear masks will take effect on July 15.
Patrick T. Fallon
/
Bloomberg via Getty Images
People gathered outside of a Starbucks coffee shop at Venice Beach in Los Angeles last month. The company's order for all customers to wear masks will take effect on July 15.

Starbucks announced on Thursday that it would require all patrons to wear face masks at its locations across the United States.

The order will take effect on July 15, according to a statement from Starbucks.

Several states have already mandated that residents wear masks in public spaces like coffee shops because of the coronavirus, though many still have no such requirement.

Starbucks said that at stores where there's no local mandate regarding masks customers will still be able to use the drive-thru, order for curbside pickup, or get their order delivered.

The company also emphasized that it will continue enhanced cleaning measures and other precautions to stem the spread of the coronavirus, which has killed over 133,000 people in the U.S. according to Johns Hopkins University.

Copyright 2020 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

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Austin Horn
Austin Horn is a 2019-2020 Kroc Fellow. He joined NPR after internships at the San Antonio Express-News and Frankfort State-Journal, as well as a couple stints in the service industry. He aims to keep his reporting grounded in the experience of real individuals of all stripes.
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