With the number of COVID-19 cases increasing around the world due to the new Omicron mutation, some companies are being forced to close their retail stores again. One of those companies appears to be Apple, which has decided to close its New York stores after temporarily closing other stores in the US and Canada due to COVID-19.
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Mark Gurman first reported that Apple Stores in New York City were partially closed on Monday. The stores will remain open only for in-store pickup of online orders.
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In addition to the stores located in New York City, 9to5Mac was able to confirm that other Apple Stores in New York State have also been temporarily closed. You can see the closed retail stores in the list below:
- New York, Upper West Side
- New York, Upper East Side
- New York, SoHo
- New York, Fifth Avenue
- New York, World Trade Center
- New York, West 14th Street
- New York, Grand Central
- Brooklyn, Williamsburg
- Brooklyn, Downtown Brooklyn
- Bronx, The Mall at Bay Plaza
- Staten Island, Staten Island
- Elmhurst, Queens Center
- Garden City, Roosevelt Field
- Huntington Station, Walt Whitman
- Lake Grove, Smith Haven
- Manhasset, Manhasset
Last week, Apple closed seven more stores in places like Atlanta, Houston and New Hampshire due to the spread of COVID-19 among employees. It had previously closed stores in Miami, Maryland and Ottawa. The tech company typically closes a store when 10% of its staff members test positive for COVID-19.
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The COVID-19 pandemic is constantly changing the plans of companies, including Apple. The company has reinstated mandatory mask wearing in all retail stores in the US. There have also been several changes to the timeline for employees to return to the company's offices. Apple says it is constantly monitoring developments related to COVID-19 to determine what measures it needs to take and which stores need to close in order to "ensure the well-being of customers and employees."
If cases continue to increase, other stores are expected to temporarily close.
Source: 9to5mac
