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Coronavirus: KFC to reopen another 80 restaurants

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KFC has become the latest fast food chain to announce plans to expand its delivery services during the continuing coronavirus lockdown.

The fried chicken chain had already reopened 20 restaurants and says it will open another 80 next week.

Burger King and Pret A Manger have both opened the doors to some sites for delivery and takeaway in the past week while Greggs and McDonald's are making moves to open some stores, too.

KFC said it would offer a reduced menu.

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"We are doing this responsibly and carefully, with stringent processes and hygiene measures put in place," the chicken chain said in a statement.

"All our restaurants will continue serving a limited menu to help the smaller kitchen teams maintain social distancing."

The list of outlets to reopen next week spans the country from Glasgow to Ashford in Kent.

And the chain said it was "working hard" to open more - which will offer delivery through apps Deliveroo, Just Eat, or Uber Eats - in the coming weeks.

But some on social media criticised the move as one that would increase the risk of delivery drivers being exposed to the virus.

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Nevertheless, the decision will be welcomed by others, some of whom attempted to replicate KFC's "secret" signature recipe at home when its restaurants were forced to close.

The company took to rating attempts posted by Twitter users.

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Yesterday, McDonald's said it will begin "operational tests" to start reopening branches, although it has not indicated when it will start serving burgers again.

Earlier this week, Greggs announced that it would reopen some of its outlets despite the coronavirus lockdown.

The bakery chain, which has more than 2,000 shops, said it would open 20 of them in the Newcastle area from Monday 4 May as part of a "controlled trial", with more to follow.