Apple stores temporarily close in California ahead of Christmas as COVID cases surge

Apple has closed all 53 of its California retail stores the week before Christmas while coronavirus cases surge in the state.

“Due to current Covid-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas,” an Apple spokesperson told CNBC in an email. “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.”

Customers at some Apple stores will be able to fulfill existing orders and Genius Bar appointments through Tuesday, The San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Stores in Tennessee, Utah, Minnesota, Oklahoma, Anchorage, Alaska, and Albuquerque New Mexico also have closed or will be closing, USA Today reported. Stores in Mexico, Brazil and Great Britain also have shut down.

It’s unclear when the stores will reopen for business, the Chronicle reported.

More than 76 million cases of the COVID-19 virus have been confirmed worldwide with more than 1.6 million deaths as of Dec. 16, according to Johns Hopkins University. The United States has more than 17 million confirmed cases with more than 316,000 deaths.

In California, more than 1.8 million people have tested positive for coronavirus and more than 22,000 have died, the university reports.

This story was originally published December 20, 2020 at 1:19 PM with the headline "Apple stores temporarily close in California ahead of Christmas as COVID cases surge."