As announced in a media briefing held October 16, McDonald’s Philippines is taking the initiative to test all of its store employees in the National Capital Region for COVID-19 in an effort to keep its employees and customers safe.  

Present in the media briefing were National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) Chief Implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., NTF Deputy Chief Implementer, Secretary Vince Dizon, McDonald’s Philippines President and CEO, Kenneth Yang, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Officer-in-Charge and General Manager Jojo Garcia, and Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto.

In partnership with the NTF, and together with the MMDA, Pasig City Government and Rizal Provincial Government, a temporary testing facility was opened at the Ynares Sports Arena in Pasig City, wherein McDonald’s provided testing booths.

McDonald’s Philippines targets to provide Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests for close to 20,000 of its store employees based in its Metro Manila branches. These tests will be conducted in several mega swabbing facilities, including the Ynares Sports Arena.

Pasig, an LGU partner identified by NTF for this initiative, was in turn, able to extend testing to 1,000 tricycle drivers in the city. 

This initiative is part of the government’s T3 (Test, Trace, Treat) campaign. The expanded testing program for workers in the food retail industry is in line with McDonald’s goal of ensuring a safe workplace for every employee and a safe dining experience for its customers.

After the event, we also caught up with McDonald’s Philippines President and CEO Kenneth Yang via email to discuss the MSafe campaign, which is very much in compliance with basic health and safety protocols set by the government, and other efforts under the T3 program. 

Since the opening of its first store in the country, McDo PH’s operations have always considered quality, service, safety, and cleanliness. How did this affect the implementation of health protocols amid the pandemic?

It wasn’t difficult for us to pivot given that we already had stringent health and safety systems and processes in place, even before the pandemic. Quality, service, safety and cleanliness have always been part of our operating culture and that will never change. When the pandemic happened, what we worked on was ensuring that we were also compliant with the health and safety protocols laid out by the Department of Tourism (DOT) and the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), as well as finding other innovative ways to keep our employees and customers safe.

Please take us through the safety measures implemented in McDo PH branches.

Each store has a dedicated safety manager to ensure all protocols are followed by employees such as wearing of face masks and face shields, use of gloves, daily submission of health check forms, temperature checks before and after every shift, and increased handwashing frequency from every hour to every 30 minutes, among others. Every store also has a dedicated Safety Manager also ensure that customers are properly guided and compliant with the protocols while in the restaurant.

What is the M Safe Campaign?

McDonald’s M Safe campaign is anchored on the belief that if our people are safe, our customers are safe, too. The campaign further strengthens its health and safety protocols while reinforcing those mandated by the government.  

Aside from free testing for employees, what are the other initiatives under this campaign?

Under the M Safe program, we have introduced new protocols such as dedicating a Safety Manager in all our stores and implementing a no-touch policy for Drive-Thru and McDelivery services to ensure employee and customer safety. We have also adopted the use of the Stay Safe app to strengthen contact tracing efforts.

Are there any plans to roll out this free testing campaign to other parts of the Philippines?

Currently, our testing is limited to employees from our stores in NCR as the NTF has focused its efforts on testing in Metro Manila, given that it remains to be the epicenter of the virus. However, we hope to partner with the NTF again should they open mega swabbing facilities in areas outside NCR.

This free testing campaign is in cooperation with the NTF’s T3 initiative. As one of its staunch supporters, what is the importance of this public-private initiative to McDo PH?

The global pandemic has posed a big challenge for the country, and we have recognized that the government can’t solve this problem alone. Companies and individuals alike have the responsibility to do their part by staying safe to help curb the spread of the virus so we can safely restart the economy.  

Through this initiative of testing our employees, we hope that we are able to send a message on our commitment to keep our people and our customers safe. We hope that more members of the private sector follow suit so that we may give more Filipinos the confidence to partake in restarting the economy.

Moving forward, what can consumers expect from McDo PH when it comes to COVID-19 response?

We have adopted the use of the Staysafe.ph app across all our stores nationwide, and even in our head office, which will assist in the government’s initiatives on contact tracing. It is an efficient and convenient solution to streamline contact tracing.  

McDonald’s is also an active supporter of the private sector-led initiative Ingat Angat, where it joins other brands from multiple industries in advocating compliance with health and safety protocols to build consumer confidence for economic recovery. We are also looking forward to more partnerships with other members of the private sector.

McDonald’s Philippines remains committed to championing innovations that will provide solutions to its customers’ need for safety. – Rappler.com