Not lovin’ it
McDonald’s across the country were hit by COVID-19 outbreaks as hundreds of complaints alleged safety breakdowns.
Illustrations by Jeremy Nguyen for Reveal
This story was co-published by the Los Angeles Times.
In the crowded kitchen of a McDonald’s outlet on a working-class commercial stretch of Oakland, California, it was as though the coronavirus didn’t exist.
Social distancing wasn’t enforced in the early weeks of the pandemic, workers at the Telegraph Avenue store claimed: As they boxed Big Macs, scooped french fries and bagged orders, they often stood shoulder to shoulder.
There weren’t enough masks, so managers told workers to improvise, offering up a box of dog diapers somebody had left at the store. Often, the outlet was so busy that workers said they had no time to wash their hands, let alone disinfect the countertops.