(Merced Dutch Bros Press release)

The health and wellbeing of our customers and employees is always our top priority. That’s why we feel it’s important to confirm an employee of Dutch Bros Merced has tested positive for COVID-19.

An employee at our shop located at 2005 E Childs Ave. took a COVID-19 test on 6/10 and received a positive COVID-19 result on 6/13. They have been advised to self-isolate for 14 days.

Prior to the positive test, the employee worked morning/early afternoon shifts on 6/2, 6/3 and 6/4; and full day shifts on 5/25, 5/26 and 6/1.

We learned of the positive case on Saturday, 6/13, and immediately began closing procedures. As an extra precaution, our Merced shop will undergo a third-party deep clean before reopening. We are also coordinating with public health officials to confirm our protocols not only meet, but exceed, expectations.

Because of our commitment to our communities, we have also taken the following steps over the last few weeks to prevent the spread of COVID-19:

• Enforced increased hand-washing and sanitizing
• Temporarily suspended the use of personal mugs at our drive-thurs
• Temporarily closed walk-ins and walk-ups to focus exclusively on serving through our drive-thru windows
• Instituted a cashless payment system, eliminating unnecessary touch points between customers and broistas
• Instituted mask policies to align with updated CDC recommendations

We want the community to know we’re following all recommended CDC guidelines and will continue to keep the community’s health at the forefront of all decisions we make.

Anyone with questions or concerns is encouraged to reach out to communitywellness@dutchbros.com.