Story By: Ernest Bio Bogore, Sub-Editor: Joseph Golder, Agency: Newsflash
Newsflash/@valentine.pelous
This is the moment queues of cars wait in line for a McDonald’s drive thru in France after the chain reopened some stores following the COVID-19 lockdown.
McDonald’s in the commune of Moissy-Cramayel in the department of Seine-et-Marne in the French region of Ile-de-France reopened at 11am and people were still arriving at 9.30pm for burgers and wraps.
Valentine Pelous, a resident who filmed the queue outside the McDonald’s, told Newsflash that the gridlock lasted for over three hours and people continued arriving until late in the evening.
Newsflash/@valentine.pelous 
Newsflash/@valentine.pelous 
Newsflash/@valentine.pelous
Moissy-Cramayel resident Joshua, 24, told local media: “I had to use another road to go home because it was so gridlocked.”
Reports said that the McDonald’s in Moissy-Cramayel reopened its drive thru and home delivery services on 20th April.
Valentine Pelous told Newsflash that the store is the first in the department to open since all McDonald’s restaurants were closed due to the lockdown.
According to local media, this is part of the experiment being carried out by McDonald’s in 15 stores across western France, including three in the region of Ile-de-France.
Joshua says that news of the reopening spread quickly among the residents of Moissy-Cramayel and the surrounding towns.
He said: “I thought I’d stop there on my way home, but there were already so many cars… I couldn’t.”
Sebastien, another local resident, said: “I went shopping around 5 pm and the queue was already snail-paced. It must have lasted until 10 pm.”
Joshua remarked: “In the evening when I went to play sports, there were even more people. Some friends waited up to three hours to get their McDonald’s!”
According to local media, McDonald’s employees are required to wear masks and floor markings remind diners to respect social distancing.
Reports said that the reopening of McDonald’s restaurants in Belgium also caused huge traffic jams.
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