Apple Asks Shareholders Attending Tomorrow's Meeting to Follow CDC Coronavirus Quarantine Measures

[MacRumors]

Ahead of Apple's 2020 shareholders meeting, which is set to take place tomorrow, Apple has asked attendees traveling from China to make sure they adhere to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's quarantine guidelines.

In the notice, which was shared on Twitter this morning and spotted by 9to5Mac, Apple says that it has worked in close consultation with public health experts and is following official CDC guidance.

Health and Safety Precautions
Apple is following official guidance on COVID-19 from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and working in close consultation with public health experts. We ask shareholders who have traveled to China in February to ensure they have completed the required 14-day quarantine period prior to the meeting in order to attend.

Coronavirus concerns have made people wary of attending events with a large number of people. Mobile World Congress (MWC), a major event that normally takes place in February, was canceled, and upcoming events that include the Game Developers Conference (GDC) and Pax East are seeing multiple major companies drop out.

The coronavirus, known as COVID-19, has been primarily limited to China, but in recent days, infections have spread significantly in other countries like South Korea, Italy, and Iran.

Just today, the CDC warned Americans that it expects COVID-19 to spread in the United States. More than 80,000 people worldwide have contracted COVID-19, and there have been 2,700 deaths.

Apple's shareholder meeting will take place at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time at the Steve Jobs Theater on the Apple Park campus. Apple's shareholder meetings are first come first serve as space for attendance is limited, with pre-registration required.

Shareholder meetings are not typically interesting to the general public and Apple executives share little about Apple's products. Apple CEO Tim Cook did make a few comments last year about Apple's services business and roadmap, so similar information could be shared this year, and if there's any interesting information, we'll let MacRumors readers know.

Article Link: Apple Asks Shareholders Attending Tomorrow's Meeting to Follow CDC Coronavirus Quarantine Measures

 

[realeric]

Covid19 is a lot worse than you think now. It’s almost impossible to quarantine as it spreads too fast. If it’s pandemic in the US, about 400k people will die.

 

[itsmilo]

I am almost fascinated by this whole thing. It shows how little we are prepared for deceases. Eventually nature is gonna have the last laugh. From one city in China spreading all over, from one strange cult to thousands in South Korea or a innocent meeting in Munich to a whole family.

My state just got it’s first case a few minutes ago

 

[PowerBook-G5]

I feel like they should have posted/provided this guideline two weeks before the meeting, not 24 hours.

 

[cmaier]

I feel like they should have posted/provided this guideline two weeks before the meeting, not 24 hours.

People who fall into the category already knew they were supposed to remain in quarantine. This is just apple's polite way of saying "do what you were supposed to do."

 

[Baymowe335]

Covid19 is a lot worse than you think now. It’s almost impossible to quarantine as it spreads too fast. If it’s pandemic in the US, about 400k people will die.

Nice arbitrary analysis with a side of speculation.

 

[smaffei]

Covid19 is a lot worse than you think now. It’s almost impossible to quarantine as it spreads too fast. If it’s pandemic in the US, about 400k people will die.

Actually, the current death rate as reported is 2.3%. So, your numbers are way off. It's looking more like 750,000 would die in a full blown US outbreak (2.3% of 327 million).

 

[44267547]

Covid19 is a lot worse than you think now. It’s almost impossible to quarantine as it spreads too fast. If it’s pandemic in the US, about 400k people will die.

And no source to back you’re projected figure? I’d say you’re post is merely overly-speculating without any substantiality.

 

[rjohnstone]

Covid19 is a lot worse than you think now. It’s almost impossible to quarantine as it spreads too fast. If it’s pandemic in the US, about 400k people will die.

Current cases vs deaths doesn't support your numbers.

SARS and MERS had higher death rates than this virus.
The current flu virus has a higher death rate.
[automerge]1582663513[/automerge]

Actually, the current death rate as reported is 2.3%. So, your numbers are way off. It's looking more like 750,000 would die in a full blown US outbreak.

That's assuming 100% infection rate.
And the 2.3% is only for mainland China. The rest of the world has a lower mortality rate vs number infections.

 

[cmaier]

Current cases vs deaths doesn't support your numbers.

SARS and MERS higher death rates than this virus.
The current flu virus has a higher death rate.
[automerge]1582663513[/automerge]

That's assuming 100% infection rate.

Last I checked, the flu death rate is around 0.05% and the covid-19 death rate is 2%. Is that incorrect?

Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate

www.cidrap.umn.edu

 

[Red Oak]

Apple should cancel this and just video stream it

it is nuts for the executive team to get into a room with unknown people who just flew in from China

 

[smaffei]

Last I checked, the flu death rate is around 0.05% and the covid-19 death rate is 2%. Is that incorrect?

Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate

www.cidrap.umn.edu

Actually, it's now 2.3% if the University of Minnesota is to be trusted:

Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate

www.cidrap.umn.edu

 

[44267547]

Apple should cancel this and just video stream it

Actually, This is a solid suggestion and quite honestly, this exception should be made given the circumstances to ‘safeguard’ the health of all individuals attending. Obviously, it’s too late now, but it’s more than appropriate to consider given the severity of the overall concern.

 

[Baymowe335]

Actually, it's now 2.3% if the University of Minnesota is to be trusted:

Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate

www.cidrap.umn.edu

If more were infected, that could drop because healthier people can likely survive.

 

[magicschoolbus]

First swine flu, then bird flu, then the Ebola virus, now this one.
Every few years like clockwork.
It will pass.
The world will be fine.

 

[rjohnstone]

Last I checked, the flu death rate is around 0.05% and the covid-19 death rate is 2%. Is that incorrect?

Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate

www.cidrap.umn.edu

The 2.3% number is based on data from mainland China.

The analysis is still far from complete.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30308-1/fulltext

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200219-sitrep-30-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=6e50645_2

WHO numbers as of Feb. 19th.

Globally 75 204 confirmed (1872 new)
China † 74 280 confirmed (1752 new) 2006 deaths (136 new)
Outside of China 924 confirmed (120 new) 25 countries 3 deaths

 

[unobtainium]

Current cases vs deaths doesn't support your numbers.

SARS and MERS had higher death rates than this virus.
The current flu virus has a higher death rate.
[automerge]1582663513[/automerge]

That's assuming 100% infection rate.
And the 2.3% is only for mainland China. The rest of the world has a lower mortality rate vs number infections.

Dude your information is so incorrect. Please stop. The current flu virus has a much lower death rate, something like 0.1%. The death rate for the new coronavirus is estimated at 2-3%, those are the best estimates of health professionals based on the outbreak so far. Your statement about the rate being lower outside China is completely baseless. We do not know yet.

 

[cmaier]

The 2.3% number is based on data from mainland China.

The analysis is still far from complete.

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)30308-1/fulltext

https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/situation-reports/20200219-sitrep-30-covid-19.pdf?sfvrsn=6e50645_2

WHO numbers as of Feb. 19th.

Globally 75 204 confirmed (1872 new)
China † 74 280 confirmed (1752 new) 2006 deaths (136 new)
Outside of China 924 confirmed (120 new) 25 countries 3 deaths

That's fine, but it still doesn't support the allegation that the flu mortality rate is higher than covid-19.

 

[rjohnstone]

Dude your information is so incorrect. Please stop. The current flu virus has a much lower death rate, something like 0.1%. The death rate for the new coronavirus is estimated at 2-3%, those are the best estimates of health professionals based on the outbreak so far. Your statement about the rate being lower outside China is completely baseless. We do not know yet.

Read the WHO numbers yourself. Link posted above.
Outside China the death rate is less than .05%

 

[unobtainium]

First swine flu, then bird flu, then the Ebola virus, now this one.
Every few years like clockwork.
It will pass.
The world will be fine.

We all know it will pass, thanks for the stunning analysis. And every single outbreak you just mentioned was very different from all the others you mentioned. There are major differences between outbreaks. This one is more alarming than any of those. I hate this kind of intellectual laziness that just says “meh, everything is always the same.” It’s like people who say all politicians are the same so why vote, etc. If you’re really that intellectually lazy, just do everyone a favor and don’t spread misinformation.

 

[rjohnstone]

That's fine, but it still doesn't support the allegation that the flu mortality rate is higher than covid-19.

You are correct on the flu virus. I was looking at a lot of info.
Current flu has more deaths (34,000+), not higher mortality rate.

 

[unobtainium]

Read the WHO numbers yourself. Link posted above.
Outside China the death rate is less than .05%

The numbers from outside of China are based on very short term data instead of months of data, and most cases outside China have been heavily monitored with the best medical care available and all resources thrown at it. There’s no way to extrapolate from that to the death rate in a general pandemic, there’s also no good reason that it would be less virulent outside China.

 

[cmaier]

You are correct on the flu virus. I was looking at a lot of info.
Current flu has more deaths (34,000+), not higher mortality rate.

Ok, but of course the mortality rate is what's important here because, if not for very drastic quarantines, there would likely easily be enough covid-19 infections right now to dwarf the flu in terms of absolute numbers of death.

 

[iReality85]

Last I checked, the flu death rate is around 0.05% and the covid-19 death rate is 2%. Is that incorrect?

Study of 72,000 COVID-19 patients finds 2.3% death rate

www.cidrap.umn.edu

Correct, I'm not sure why people are quoting a higher % death rate for flu. Yes, flu does claim a lot of lives every year, but when the number of infections is factored in, the rate is very low.

That said, with something like COVID-19, I don't get why death rate calculation is used. CV is a new virus; literally no one knows what the death rate actually is. The best we can do is guess. But, SARS and MERS had a 10% and 35% mortality rate, respectively. Based on that, I wouldn't think COVID-19 would be less than 10%. As it stands right now, if you take total deaths against total survivors (not total infected), the "death rate" is 10%.

 

[rjohnstone]

The numbers from outside of China are based on very short term data instead of months of data, and most cases outside China have been heavily monitored with the best medical care available and all resources thrown at it. There’s no way to extrapolate from that to the death rate in a general pandemic, there’s also no good reason that it would be less virulent outside China.

You're assuming all care and preventative measure are equal everywhere... they are not.
China was unprepared for the virus.
And no where did I suggest it was any less virulent outside of China.
The numbers say the survivability is higher outside of China based on the current numbers.