Waffle House Closing 365 Of Their Locations Has People Panicking

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Throughout this entire saga, there have been a lot of different instances that people credit as their reason for finally taking the coronavirus seriously. For a lot of people, the recent announcement that Waffle House has closed hundreds of locations was that moment.

On Tuesday, the restaurant–which is notorious for staying open until it’s nearly impossible not to–announced that it was closing 365 locations across the country. That announcement came after most states put rules in place forcing dine-in establishments to close in an effort to help stop the spread of coronavirus.

“We want to acknowledge the great efforts of our associates, who work hard every shift to create a safe, warm and welcoming dining experience 24 hours daily,” the company said in a statement. “We are working hard to support them as we do our best to manage through this crisis.”

The popular chain has long been known for staying open despite drastic situations, having done so during natural disasters like hurricanes and tornados. The Federal Emergency Management Agency even created the Waffle House index in 2012, which gauges how severe a natural disaster really is by how many Waffle Houses were shut down in the process.

Now, fans of Waffle House have taken to social media to express their distress over the restaurant’s closures, confirming that we must be doomed with nearly 400 of the chain’s locations being closed completely.