A series of weekend Apple Store closures in Italy are being implemented as the country struggles to contain the spread of the coronavirus COVID-19. Italy has suffered the second-highest number of deaths after China.
Three Italian Apple Stores were closed last weekend, and another one has been announced for the upcoming weekend after a government decree …
AppleInsider spotted tweets by setteBIT.
We learned yesterday that Apple has been installing hand sanitizers at store entrances, as well as heavily restricting staff travel.
As demanded by a decree of the President of the Council of Ministers issued last week, all medium and large retail stores, as well as commercial establishments within shopping centers, in the provinces of Bergamo, Lodi, Piacenza and Cremona are to close on Saturday and Sunday to prevent spread of the new coronavirus. Similar measures were established for other provinces and territories.
AppleInsider was informed of the upcoming Apple store closure by Twitter account “settleBIT,” which in late February posted tweets detailing identical weekend closures at Apple il Leone, Apple Fiordaliso and Apple Carosello on Feb. 29 and March 1.
Ordering weekend-only Apple Store store closures seems a little odd, but it’s likely that the government is trying to balance containment of the virus against the economic damage that would be done to the country by more drastic measures. With lower footfall on weekdays, it’s more likely stores can enforce the use of the hand sanitizers, as well as sanitize demo products after they have been handled. Weekend crowds would make such measures less practical.
Additionally, Apple is canceling Today at Apple workshops at other stores, likely to avoid putting customers into close proximity for extended periods of time.
The death toll in Italy has now hit 79 people, with more than 2,500 confirmed cases. While the initial outbreak was in the north of the country, there are now confirmed cases cross half of the country.
The spread in China appears to be slowing, with the latest WHO report showing 130 new cases in the past 24 hours – significantly lower than the hundreds of new cases seen previously. However, there is some concern about possible under-reporting in China, and there were 1,792 new cases outside the country.
Coronavirus infections have now been confirmed in a total of 72 countries, eight of them in the preceding 24 hours. There have been over 3,000 deaths.
However, WHO stresses that the risk to individuals remains low outside of hotspots.
See the very short video below for key facts.
