The coronavirus
There is a map showing location and number of cases to the end of January. There have been almost 15,000 confirmed cases and 305 deaths. Also, over 300 people are already recovered from the illness. The majority of the illnesses are in mainland China but there are cases in almost two dozen other countries. So far there as only be one death outside of China, a Chinese man in the Philippines. It is not surprising that Apple is being cautious and closing facilities in mainland China.
Apple told CNN: “Out of an abundance of caution and based on the latest advice from leading health experts, we’re closing all our corporate offices, stores and contact centers in mainland China through February 9. We will continue to closely monitor the situation and we look forward to reopening our stores as soon as possible.”
Tim Cook, the Apple Chief Executive Office (CEO) said that Apple had been regularly deep cleaning stores in China during this week and temperature checks had been taken on all employees to detect any symptoms of infection. He said that decline in traffic and now closures of stores would negatively impact Apples sales of which about 15 percent are in China.
Coronavirus outbreak declared a global public health emergency
There is a Center for Disease Control (CDC) mandatory quarantine the first in half a century. Foreign nationals returning from China are banned. Many US airlines are suspending all flights to China. Last Friday Delta, American, and United Airlines all suspended flights to mainland China. Airlines in some other countries are following suit.
Some Apple factories run by Foxconn still open
As of Tuesday Foxconn had said that it was operating on a holiday schedule and it did not not anticipate any reduction in production. Apple says its online store also will remain open. Nintendo has said that the effects of the coronavirus has aleady impacted production of its Nintendo Switch game console.
