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Apple Closes Retail Stores Outside Greater China Until March 27th and Outlines Steps It Is Taking to Protect Employees

Apple has released a statement from CEO Tim Cook about the company’s response to COVID-19. Among other things, the company is closing all of its retail locations outside Greater China until March 27, 2020. Cook said:

We will be closing all of our retail stores outside of Greater China until March 27. We are committed to providing exceptional service to our customers. Our online stores are open at www.apple.com, or you can download the Apple Store app on the App Store. For service and support, customers can visit support.apple.com. I want to thank our extraordinary Retail teams for their dedication to enriching our customers’ lives. We are all so grateful to you.

Apple is also moving to flexible work arrangements for employees outside of Greater China, extending leave benefits, and paying hourly workers in line with business as usual operations.

Apple’s retail stores are often crowded, especially on weekends, so it’s good to see the company take these measures for the safety of its customers and employees.

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John is MacStories’ Managing Editor, has been writing about Apple and apps since joining the team in 2015, and today, runs the site alongside Federico.

John also co-hosts four MacStories podcasts: AppStories, which covers the world of apps, MacStories Unwind, which explores the fun differences between American and Italian culture and recommends media to listeners, Ruminate, a show about the weird web and unusual snacks, and NPC: Next Portable Console, a show about the games we take with us.

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