Pret A Manger has temporarily closed all of its 400 UK stores due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Earlier this week the high street food chain offered free hot drinks and discounted snacks to NHS staff dealing with the crisis.
The closure comes after the Government told cafes, restaurants, pubs, gyms and other public places to close as part of a bid to defeat the virus.
The company's CEO Pano Christou said: "I want to thank our amazing teams for serving you with so much passion and kindness over the recent weeks, including more than 100,000 NHS workers.
"Pret’s first value is Happy Teams, Happy Customers and my priority is always to protect our teams as much as we can.
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"For this reason, we will be closing all our UK shops temporarily from this evening. We will of course ensure any excess food goes to those who need it.
"We look forward to being a part of your daily lives again soon. Until then, stay healthy and look after each other."
Pret a Manger earlier pledged support for NHS workers, offering them freebies.
A message shared on the company's social media pages said: "Dear NHS Workers, Your hot drinks are on the house from today, and we'll take 50% off everything else.
"Thank you for everything you are doing. We look forward to serving you. With love, Everyone at Pret"
Its rival coffee chain Starbucks also closed its doors today as part of plans to protect both customers and staff amid the spiralling pandemic.
Staff, many of whom are on the minimum wage, will be paid for the first four weeks - with the company set to revise its pay structure after a month.
"We will immediately guarantee catastrophe pay for the next four weeks," a Starbucks spokeswoman told Mirror Money.
"Throughout this period, we have been closely following the guidance of government and health officials," Alex Rayner, Starbucks general manager explained.
"In line with the Prime Minister’s directive this evening that all restaurants, pubs and cafes must close from tonight, we are closing all Starbucks stores across the UK. To all our partners – please work to close your stores as soon as possible this evening.
"I want to express my deepest gratitude to every single one of our partners in the UK for their determination, kindness and resilience throughout this truly unique period. But for now, the best thing for everyone will be to stay home and stay safe."
Catastrophe pay was introduced by the company to cover staff in the event of hurricanes and natural disasters - it has now been extended to cover Covid-19.
