Apple Shutters All Its Stores In California

With COVID cases spiking along with death tolls in California, Apple has shuttered all 53 of its stores in the state. Per the Verge, the tech giant announced the precaution late Saturday as ICU capacity fell to 0% in some parts of the state and with the emergency alert system activated in the San Francisco Bay Area for the first time during the pandemic. Stay-at-home orders are now in effect across nearly all of California, where retail stores are limited to 20% capacity, the AP reports. Apple announced the total closures one day after the company said it would close stores in and around Los Angeles, where cases have now topped 600,000. Apple has not said when stores will reopen, per Bloomberg.

According to 9to5Mac, the California move brings Apple store closures to nearly 100 of its 509 worldwide, including all locations in Brazil, Mexico, Germany, and the Netherlands. Stateside, stores have also closed this past week in Minnesota, Oklahoma, Oregon, Alaska, Nebraska, and New Mexico. Many of the US stores that remain open as holiday shopping time runs out have moved to curbside service, with customers remaining outdoors as they pick up orders. (More Apple Store stories.)