Apple has officially announced this morning that they will be closing all of its stores and corporate offices in China until February 9, 2020, due to the coronavirus.
This is being done to protect Apple’s workers at both the corporate and retail levels. At the same time, this move can also protect customers in the company’s retail stores since a lot of people tend to touch the products in there, so this move would help make it so that it would not spread the germs of the coronavirus.
Apple has released a statement stating the following:
“Our thoughts are with the people most immediately affected by the Coronavirus and with those working around the clock to study and contain it. Out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts, we’re closing all our corporate offices, stores, and contact centers in mainland China through February 9. Apple’s online store in China remains open. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and we look forward to reopening our stores as soon as possible.”
Additionally, Bloomberg has reported that Apple will also be restricting its employees from traveling to China too.
The date of February 9 could be extended if conditions worsen in China. Until then, those in China who wish to purchase products from Apple will still be able to do so from Apple’s website, but nothing in its stores at this time.