GA Coronavirus: Waffle House Shuts 400-Plus Sites; 'Index' At Red

GEORGIA — Many Southerners, and even officials at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, use the "Waffle House Index" to determine the severity of emergencies such as hurricanes — and now the spread of the new coronavirus.

On Wednesday, Waffle House announced it is closing 418 stores across the Southeast, moving the Index into the red zone. There are still 1,574 stores still open, the company said.

Headquartered in Norcross, Georgia,Waffle House operates nearly 2,000 locations.

The company last gave an update on its stores on March 18, when it said all stores were open. But that has changed as the respiratory virus has spread.

The number of confirmed and presumed positive cases of COVID-19 in Georgia rose to 1,247 cases on Wednesday afternoon from 1,097 cases Tuesday night. There have been 394 hospitalized and 40 deaths, as of Wednesday afternoon.

See more: Canton Waffle House Employee Tests Positive For Coronavirus

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it uses companies such as Waffle House to see how quickly communities will be able to bounce back after emergencies due to its small chance of closing.

EHS Today — a magazine for environment, health and safety leaders — explained what the Waffle House Index is.

"If a Waffle House store is open and offering a full menu, the index is green. If it is open but serving from a limited menu, it’s yellow. When the location has been forced to close, the index is red. Because Waffle House is well-prepared for disasters … it’s rare for the index to hit red."

"In 2011, the current head of FEMA, administrator Craig Fugate, was said to have coined what’s called the Waffle House Index. There are three measures in the index: green, yellow and red," Marketplace said. "Because Waffle Houses restaurants are in areas prone to hurricanes and tornadoes, the company has made it part of their business plan to be prepared, said Pat Warner, the vice president of culture at Waffle House."

As of Wednesday, Waffle House, which typically operates 24 hours a day, tweeted the index is in the red.

FEMA went on to say, "the Waffle House test doesn’t just tell us how quickly a business might rebound — it also tells us how the larger community is faring. The sooner restaurants, grocery and corner stores, or banks can reopen, the sooner local economies will start generating revenue again — signaling a stronger recovery for that community. The success of the private sector in preparing for and weathering disasters is essential to a community’s ability to recover in the long run."

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Globally, more than 438,000 people have been infected and more than 19,000 people have died from the new coronavirus, Johns Hopkins reported Wednesday morning. Of that total, more than 55,000 confirmed cases were in the United States, with more than 800 U.S. deaths tied to the virus outbreak.