Amid the global coronavirus pandemic, Apple Inc has informed that it will close off all its retail outlets for the coming two weeks, except those in Greater China. The move is aimed at minimizing coronavirus COVID-19 transmission risks among employees and consumers, and was soon followed by some of the other retailers in the U.S. 

As per the recent numbers, nearly 153,000 people worldwide have been infected with COVID-19 and over 5,780 have died. Most of the shoppers in Europe and United States are expected to prefer staying at home during this time of health hazard.

The announcements made by the retail companies has certainly spiraled the global response to this outbreak. Majority of the companies had kept their stores open to the public before this.

Tim Cook, the CEO of the iPhone maker, confirmed in a letter on the company’s website late Friday that until March 27, Apple will be closing of its retail stores outside of Greater China. On Friday, the company reportedly reopened all of its stores in China with the fall of the number of new cases in the country. Cook assured that Apple’s hourly workers will keep receiving their payments and online sales will continue as usual.

Telecom giant T-Mobile U.S. Inc said it would shut down its stores temporarily which are located inside a shopping mall from March 16. Urban Outfitters, the apparel company owing brands like Free People and Anthropologie informed on Saturday it plans to keep its consumer stores globally closed up to March 28. It too said that its store employees would still be payed when the stores are closed.

Verizon Communications said many of its outlets will experience temporary shutdown across the U.S., which will allow it to expand the company’s work from home policy to its retail employees as well.

Source Credits: https://in.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-apple/apple-some-u-s-retailers-close-stores-to-contain-virus-idINKBN2110AL