By Hilary Russ
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The fried chicken chain KFC has closed dining rooms in corporate-owned stores in Florida because of the escalation in coronavirus cases in the state, according to a letter seen by Reuters.
The letter, from KFC U.S. Chief Operating Officer Monica Rothgery to franchisees on Monday, said its own Florida restaurants would operate only drive-thru and suggested owner-operators consider doing the same in "hot spots" where new cases are surging, including Arizona, California, Florida and Texas.
KFC is a unit of Yum! Brands (N:YUM). The company did not immediately reply to a request for comment.
Florida recorded more than 12,600 new coronavirus cases on Monday, its second-highest daily total since the outbreak began, coinciding with the state's attempt to revive tourism and attract visitors to the recently reopened Disney World.
Top U.S. infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci attributed the current surge in coronavirus cases to the United States' not having shut down completely to snuff out outbreaks of the disease and specifically called out the four states where cases are increasing sharply.
With restaurants among the hardest-hit sectors economically, some independent restaurants and smaller chains have sought to reopen dining rooms as quickly as allowed, with extra safety measures in place.
But fast food giants have not been in such a rush because their drive-thru sales have mostly made up for lost walk-in business during the pandemic.
Customer transactions at major quick-service chains were 9% lower in the week ended July 5 compared with the same period the previous year. That is an improvement over the 13% year-over-year drop from the prior week, data provider The NPD Group Inc said on Monday.
By contrast, full-service sit-down restaurants still had 30% fewer transactions than the previous year, NPD found.
Earlier this month, McDonald's Corp (N:MCD) delayed reopening dining rooms as a number of states enacted new restrictions, the Wall Street Journal reported.