NEW YORK, NEW YORK – SEPTEMBER 20: Apple CEO Tim Cook greets customers at the grand reopening of Apple’s flagship Apple Fifth Avenue store on September 20, 2019 in New York City.
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Apple has temporarily closed all 53 of its stores in California after 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 will not affect the contiguous states of Arizona and Nevada.
The move shows how a major tech company is trying to reduce the spread of the virus to employees and consumers, despite its potential business impact.
“Due to the current Covid-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” an Apple spokesperson told CNBC in an email. “We are taking this step with great caution as we are closely monitoring the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.”
Customers can still pick up existing orders and products that the Genius Bar has fixed in the coming days, the spokesman said.
On Friday, Bloomberg reported that Apple had temporarily closed its stores in the Los Angeles area a day later the state said Southern California did not have intensive care beds.
On Wednesday, California said it had 53,711 new Covid-19 cases, breaking the record of 35,729 set on Sunday.
Four of the state’s five geographic regions are currently fulfilling stay-at-home orders, allowing stores with 20% capacity to operate indoors. Shops must enforce access metering, and meeting or drinking is not allowed.
In March, as the virus began circulating in the US, Apple said it was closing all stores outside of China until March 27. jump.
Store closures have impacted Apple’s AppleCare support business this year, Luca Maestri, the company’s chief financial officer, said in April.
The Apple spokesperson said customers can shop, get product help, and find shopping information on the company’s website.
– CNBC’s Kif Leswing contributed to this report.
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