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Apple temporarily shuts all stores outside greater China due to COVID-19

Additionally, the company said that employee affected by the stores closing up will be paid.

SNS | New Delhi | March 14, 2020 4:32 pm

Apple temporarily shuts all stores outside greater China due to COVID-19

Apple is closing all of its stores outside China until March 27 in a bid to slow the spread of the new coronavirus outbreak, CEO Tim Cook said. Cook said the firm had learned from steps taken in China, where the tech giant has just reopened its stores. (Photo by Christof STACHE / AFP)

With an aim to combat with the Coronavirus pandemic, Apple CEO Tim Cook on late Friday announced that the company is temporarily closing all of its retail stores across the world ‘outside of Greater China’ until March 27.

Cook, in a letter posted on company’s website said, “the most effective way to minimize risk of the virus’ transmission is to reduce density and maximize social distance.”

As the virus engulfs the world, Cook confirmed the temporary closure adding, “we’re taking additional steps to protect our team members and customers.”

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“Our online stores are open at www.apple.com, or you can download the Apple app on the App Store,” Cook added.

Apple stores in Greater China, where the virus originated, reopened on Saturday and will continue to remain open as the number of new cases has fallen ‘dramatically’.

“The rate of infections has dramatically declined, we know COVID-19’s effects are still being strongly felt,” Cook said.

Additionally, the company said that employee affected by the stores closing up will be paid.

“All of our hourly workers will continue to receive pay in alignment with business as usual operations. We have expanded our leave policies to accommodate personal or family health circumstances created by COVID-19 — including recovering from an illness, caring for a sick loved one, mandatory quarantining, or childcare challenges due to school closures,” Cook said.

Apple’s committed donations to the global COVID-19 response have reached $15 million worldwide, Cook said. And Apple will be matching its employee donations two-to-one to support COVID-19 response efforts locally, nationally and internationally.

The latest news from the giant comes after Apple announced that the Worldwide Developer Conference (WWC) in California in   June will be held online.

Apple News has launched a new COVID-19 section, where users can find the latest verified reporting from trusted news outlets.

Apple runs some of the most elite stores across the world and ranks first in the US for highest sales per square foot.

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