Apple Will Close All Retail Stores Outside Of China Until Late March

Apple has published details on how it is responding to the ongoing coronavirus outbreaks that have popped up around the world. In a statement on Friday, the company said that its donations to help support the global response to the virus have reached $15 million globally. As well, the company detailed plans to close all of its retail stores outside of the Greater China region until later this month in an effort to curb the spread of the virus.

In its announcement on Friday, Apple said that all of its stores reopened in the Greater China area following a decrease in coronavirus cases in the country. However, the same virus has now spread into other nations where cases continue to climb. As a result, Apple says that its retail stores outside of Greater China will close until March 27.

The online store will remain open, however, and Apple says that its Support website will also still be available for existing customers. Beyond that, Apple says that its offices outside of the Greater China region are transitioning to more 'flexible work arrangements,' including remotely working from home.

Apple has been performing 'extensive, deep cleaning' at its offices, something that won't be changing. As well, Apple says that it is rolling out temperature checks and health screenings at its offices to monitor for potentially sick employees.

The company's hourly workers will continue to receive their pay and its leave policies have been expanded to cover certain scenarios caused by the virus, such as having to take care of kids during school closures. Finally, Apple News is now offering a new COVID-19 section that aggregrates news specifically about the disease and outbreaks.