In-N-Out Burger’s two recently opened restaurants in Colorado each have active COVID-19 outbreaks with 80 staff members who tested positive for the virus between the two locations, according to state data.
The wildly popular fast food chain debuted in the state on November 20 with locations in Aurora and Colorado Springs; According to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, each now have coronavirus outbreaks among workers.
State health officials consider an outbreak to be two or more cases related to the same location or event. Outbreaks are considered to be active until four weeks have passed with no new cases.
The outbreak at the Aurora site was declared on Dec. 17, with 20 staff members confirming having tested positive for the virus and an additional 16 workers listed as probable COVID-19 cases.
The outbreak from the Colorado Springs site was confirmed by the state on Dec. 6. There were 60 positive cases from employees at the El Paso County site, with an additional nine suspected cases among employees.
The state has not linked a single customer to either of these outbreaks.
Both restaurants remain open, and state health officials generally do not require restaurants or other retail locations with outbreaks to be closed.
Denny Warnick, In-N-Out’s vice president of operations, acknowledged the “affected number of Colorado employees who have tested positive for COVID-19” in a statement and added, “Nothing is more important to us than health and safety. of our customers and employees. “
All employees who tested positive and those who were in close contact with them “are excluded from the workplace,” said Warinck.
“We continue to work closely with our public health agencies and have confirmed the right steps to help protect our communities,” he said. “These steps include: limiting staff to the minimum necessary to serve our customers, using staff ‘cohorts’ to mitigate potential exposure, and limiting dining room access to takeout orders, while ensuring the correct physical distance. “
Since opening to much fanfare in Colorado last month, each location has seen long lines. That mania has persisted; last Saturday’s drive-thru line in Aurora was still over three hours long. None of the fast food chain’s Colorado locations have active in-house eating due to the state’s COVID-19 regulations.
There are currently several active outbreaks at other fast food restaurants in Colorado. Chick-fil-A, McDonald’s and Wendy’s each have an outbreak in one or two locations each – each with fewer than 10 employee cases – and according to state data, no customer infections have been linked to any of the restaurants.
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