NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 20: Apple CEO Tim Cook greets customers at the grand reopening of the Apple Fifth Avenue retail store, Apple’s flagship, on September 20, 2019 at the New York City.
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Apple has temporarily closed all 53 California retail stores after the number of coronavirus cases hit new daily records in its home state this week. A list of stores on the phone manufacturer’s website reflects the change, which does not affect the Arizona and Nevada border states.
The move shows how a major technology company is trying to reduce the spread of the virus to employees and consumers, despite the potential business impact.
“Due to the current conditions of Covid-19 in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” an Apple spokesman told CNBC via email. “We take this step with great caution as we closely monitor the situation and look forward to returning our teams and customers as soon as possible.”
Customers can still pick up existing orders and products that Genius Bar has repaired over the next few days, the spokesman said.
Bloomberg reported Friday that Apple had temporarily closed its stores in the Los Angeles area a day later said the state Southern California had run out of intensive care beds.
On Wednesday, California said it had 53,711 new cases of Covid-19, surpassing the record 35,729 set on Sunday.
Four of the state’s five geographic regions currently adhere to maintain home orders, which allow retail stores to operate indoors with a 20% capacity. Stores must apply the entrance measure and no meetings or drinks are allowed.
In March, as the virus began circulating in the United States, Apple said it would close all stores outside of China until March 27th. Some U.S. stores reopened their banking service, and in early summer, Apple closed more U.S. stores due to the number of cases jumped.
Store closures have affected Apple’s AppleCare support business this year, said Luca Maestri, the company’s chief financial officer in April.
The Apple spokesman said customers can shop, get product help and find store information on the company’s website.
– CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.
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