#Apple is temporarily closing all California stores, a dozen more around U.S. amid COVID-19 surges

Apple is temporarily closing all 53 of its retail stores California and about a dozen outlets in other states because of COVID-19 surges.

The closures come during the final days of the busy holiday shopping season.

Besides California, Apple is closing, or already has shuttered, all four of its stores in Tennessee, all three in Utah, all four in Minnesota, its two stores in Oklahoma, and outlets in Portland, Oregon; Anchorage, Alaska; and Albuquerque New Mexico, according to the company’s website and theverge,com, a technology news site.

California has been the epicenter of the health crisis in recent weeks. Total cases top 1.8 million and there have been more than 22,000 deaths. Average daily cases have increased 10-fold the past seven weeks to more than 40,000.

“Due to current COVID-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” Apple said in a statement provided to Bloomberg. “We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible.”

Apple has not yet responded to am email message seeking comment.

In a message on the websites of its California locations, Apple said, “we’re temporarily closing soon, but are currently open for pickup of existing online orders, previously scheduled in-store Genius Support appointments and previously reserved one-on-one shopping sessions with a Specialist made through Tuesday, December 22.”

Apple has reopened most of its 270 or so U.S. outlets in recent months, though generally by appointment only, according to Bloomberg.

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