Starbucks, McDonald's close some China stores on coronavirus

American coffee giant Starbucks has shut all of its cafes and suspended delivery in China's Hubei Province during the Spring Festival, while McDonald's has temporarily closed restaurants across five cities in the province, due to the outbreak of

a rapidly spreading lung virus

.

Starbucks said on Saturday that the move is out of "health concerns" for its customers and employees, according to

a post on China's twitter-like Weibo

. And the company has already donated 3 million yuan (432.5 thousand U.S. dollars) to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation for medical supplies purchasing. The Seattle-based chain has about 4,125 cafes in the Chinese mainland.

According to a McDonald's statement on Friday, all restaurant operations would be immediately suspended in five cities in Hubei Province, including the provincial capital city of Wuhan, which is the ground zero of the virus. McDonald's had about 3,000 outlets in China at the end of 2018.

The central province of Hubei is home to nearly 60 million people. As of 9:00 a.m. on Sunday, at least 1,985 cases were confirmed with 56 deaths in China.