Starbucks has announced plans to close all of its UK branches from Saturday, after the Prime Minister ordered all pubs and bars to close in the next 24 hours.
The coffee chain told Mirror Money branches will be closed until further notice, 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.
On Wednesday, Starbucks already made the decision to close its most 'at risk' branches, however now all stores, except drive throughs, will shut their doors.
It's part of several measures that the coffee chain has been implementing to mitigate the risk of coronavirus.
The company stopped accepting reusable cups on March 6, after the severity of the fast-spreading illness started to become a reality for UK businesses.
The corporation said it was no longer accepting the cups to prevent the spread of the killer bug, though it agreed to still honour the promised discount for anyone carrying one.
The news comes as the Prime Minister ordered pubs, bars and restaurants throughout the UK to close immediately in a press statement on Friday afternoon.
Boris Johnson said nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms, and leisure centres should close too.
Rivals including Costa Coffee, Caffe Nero and Greggs are yet to comment on whether the warning will affect them.
The PM said hospitality venues would be allowed to open to provide takeout services only.
He added that England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland had all agreed to the dramatic scaling up of the measures.
"Following agreement between all the four nations of the UK, we are collectively telling - telling - cafes, bars, pubs restaurants to close tonight as soon as they reasonably can and not to open tomorrow.
"To be clear, they can continue to provide take-out services. We’re also telling nightclubs, theatres, cinemas, gyms and leisure centres to close on the timescale."
