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If you are missing your regular Starbucks coffee, you’re not alone. With drive-thru and delivery still available, you can still get your coffee fix at some Starbucks locations. However, you might be wondering how safe these options actually are. Luckily, we asked Dr. Giuseppe Aragona, General Practitioner & Medical Advisor at Prescription Doctor, exactly how safe Starbucks drive-thru is.
Keep reading for his answer!
According to Dr. Aragona, drive-thru is pretty safe. He explains, "All fast food and delivery workers are working hard to keep their places clean and safe to use."
He does recommend a few precautionary measures, "If you are going to use the drive through, it may be safest to not touch any of the surfaces like the drive windows and such."
He also gives his opinion on whether or not you have to sanitize the cups: "The workers will be keeping clean, so there is no need to sanitize the drinks or wipe them down, they should be clean to use. If you are concerned, getting a drink in a paper cup will be safer than a plastic cup, as the virus can live on plastic for longer."
According to Starbucks' statement, they are being extra careful to ensure the health and safety of their customers: "Currently, at all open Starbucks stores, our cleaning practices exceed public health guidelines and are proven to reduce the spread of COVID-19. All of our stores use the Clean, Safe and Ready system to ensure the well-being of our partners and customers."
They are also taking additional steps: "more frequent cleaning and sanitizing of high-contact surface areas, increased hand washing by partners, making gloves available to cashiers, supplementing partner hand washing with hand sanitizer and restricting the use of personal cups, reusable cups and water bottles for partners and customers."
With all of these precautions and Dr. Aragona's advice in mind, stopping at your local Starbucks drive-thru should be safe for customers.
