COVID-19 forces Apple to temporarily close retail store in Italy

San Francisco: Apple will temporarily close its retail store in Italy on March 7 and 8 on orders from the Italian government.

The notice is the result of a decree of the President of the Council of Ministers issued last week that will see all medium and large retail stores shuttered over the coming weekend to halt the spread of the virus, Mac Rumors reported on Wednesday.

The Italian government is working hard on a raft of measures to be rolled out quickly “to protect Italians and to support our companies” amid the current coronavirus outbreak, Foreign Minister Luigi Di Maio said earlier.

The preventive measure is part of a new decree issued by the government hoping to prevent to spread the virus which has caused 3,089 infected cases and 107 fatalities in the country.

Meanwhile, Apple has started reopening its retail stores in China and according to the company’s regional Chinese website, 29 out of 42 stores were open for business on last week, though under limited hours.

Due to an ‘abundance of caution’ as the coronavirus threat loomed, Apple closed all retail stores, corporate offices and contact centres in Mainland China.

Last week, Apple warned that coronavirus outbreak will affect its business in the January-March quarter as worldwide iPhone supply will be temporarily constrained.

In an investor update the tech giant said it no longer expects to meet the revenue guidance it provided last month for the upcoming quarter.

The tech giant closed all 42 retail stores in the country from February 1 based on the latest advice from leading health experts.

According to Apple, outside of China, customer demand across its product and service categories has been strong to date.

IANS