Starbucks locations in Macon, Warner Robins close dining rooms as COVID cases spike
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The Telegraph’s COVID delta variant reporting
As the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus surges across Middle Georgia, officials, hospitals and communities have had to react. Here is our latest coverage.
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Starbucks stores in Macon, Warner Robins and Perry are no longer offering dine-in.
Customers may still come inside the stores to place a to-go order. Drive-thrus and outdoor patios remain open.
“Our patio is still open for customers to be able sit and enjoy drinks,” said Chelsea Huckaby, a manager in training who was filling in Friday for the store manager at the Perry location. The store is located at 277 Perry Parkway.
“We have umbrellas out here so there’s shade from the sun, and we’ve got a very large patio out here in Perry, so lots of outdoor seating … where people like to sit when the weather is nice anyway. But our cafe is currently closed again temporarily.”
The temporary closure is due to the surge in COVID-19 due to the delta variant across the country, Huckaby said.
“Employees are wearing masks,” Huckaby said. “However, it’s just strongly encouraged for customers who come inside but not a requirement.”
The same holds true for the Warner Robins store at 2729 Watson Blvd., according to store manager Gayla Gasparich.
Customers seem to be taking the dining-room closures in stride, the managers said.
In Macon, both the Tom Hill Sr. Boulevard and Forsyth Road locations shut down their dining rooms a few days ago, although customers can come in and order. Drive-thrus are open as well.
The Forsyth Road location had been shut down for about a month for renovations before recently opening again, only to shutter due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. Masks are encouraged but not required to enter either location.
‘Our continued focus is health and safety’
A spokeswoman for the national chain shared this:
“Our continued focus is the health and safety of our partners, customers and the communities we serve and doing our part to help local health officials mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
“This includes complying with all local regulations and mandates on indoor dining where applicable and our local leaders are empowered to make operation decisions that best meet the conditions in the market. These decisions are made on a store by store, market by market basis.”
The spokeswoman could not confirm or refute reports that the all Starbucks locations within southeast Georgia and possibly throughout the state were ceasing dine-in. She said a list of impacted stores was not available.
Telegraph senior editor Caleb Slinkard contributed to this story.
This story was originally published August 13, 2021 at 2:07 PM.
