Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

MacRumors

macrumors bot
Original poster
Apr 12, 2001
69,508
40,641



Apple is no longer allowing its employees to travel to Italy or South Korea because of the coronavirus outbreak affecting those countries, reports Bloomberg.

unitedplane.jpg

Apple had already restricted employee travel to China, which is an issue because Apple engineers often visit China at this time of year to prepare for the manufacturing of new iPhones.

"We have instituted specific travel restrictions in a few countries including China, South Korea, and Italy," Apple said in a memo sent out to employees. Apple recommends employees manage meetings through phone calls and video chats.
"There are many ways to continue to manage our ongoing meetings and activities through calls and video. If you do have travel planned, we suggest you work with your managers to consider delaying or canceling business travel which could be postponed or managed through virtual meetings."
At the current time, employees are only able to travel to those areas for business-critical reasons and must have approval from a company vice president.

Apple only has one supplier in Italy, STMicroelectronics, but it works with multiple suppliers in South Korea. One Apple supplier in South Korea, LG Innotek, shut down earlier this week after a factory worker tested positive for coronavirus. The factory, which is in Gumi, South Korea, is close to Daegu, where many of the COVID-19 cases in the country are centered.

Apple also operates one store in South Korea and 17 in Italy, but none of those have been shut down at this time.

Apple has also said that "deep cleaning protocols" are considered a "top priority" and are in effect across stores, offices, and employee shuttles. Apple recommends that any employee who is sick, especially with a fever or severe cough, should take sick leave "until they have fully recovered."

Article Link: Apple Restricts Employee Travel to South Korea and Italy, Two Countries Hit Hard by Coronavirus
 
It's funny this story used a United airlines picture. I know from experience flying from San Francisco to Hong Kong a lot that Apple is the largest daily purchaser of United business class tickets on the San Francisco to Asia routes.
 
It's funny this story used a United airlines picture. I know from experience flying from San Francisco to Hong Kong a lot that Apple is the largest daily purchaser of United business class tickets on the San Francisco to Asia routes.

It was intentional. United last year said Apple buys 50 business class tickets to Shanghai every day.

 
It was intentional. United last year said Apple buys 50 business class tickets to Shanghai every day.


I can attest to that fact as I fly the San Francisco Asia routes a lot and when in the business class cabin, it's filled with Apple executives making it a great place to chat about Apple. The same is true in the United Polaris lounge at the SFO international terminal. Maybe one could pick up some "MacRumors" on those flights ;)
 
Isn’t this a bit late to be declaring this? I’m sure Apple will have banned travel to these countries last week following advice from government and the WHO, although the US has infections spreading too.
 
"Employees are only allowed to travel to those regions for business-critical reasons and must get approval from a company vice president, Apple told staff in messages viewed by Bloomberg News."​

Engineer: Sir, it's for iPhone 5G.

VP: You're good to go.
 
  • Haha
Reactions: vidjahgamz
First two cases in Georgia are from a man coming back from Italy and infecting his son when he got home. Officials had the audacity to make a statement last night and say that they don't need to reveal anything (flight, stops, people exposed) because it can't spread if there are no symptoms and the symptoms didn't show until they were home.

Atlanta also held Olympic qualifiers this past weekend. I expect the numbers here to go completely out of control in the next 2-3 weeks.

Yes its blown out of proportion. No that doesn't mean we should be careless. Pretty worried about my parents. They are prime age to get very sick.
 
  • Like
Reactions: mech986
Engineer: Sir, it's for iPhone 5G.

VP: You're good to go.

Engineer gets sick in China, needs a medical evacuation, Apple gets stuck with the bill for a $100k LearJet flight because their travel insurance dropped coverage of China.

Or worse yet, engineer dies, Apple is forking out $1 Million+ in death benefits.
 
First two cases in Georgia are from a man coming back from Italy and infecting his son when he got home. Officials had the audacity to make a statement last night and say that they don't need to reveal anything (flight, stops, people exposed) because it can't spread if there are no symptoms and the symptoms didn't show until they were home.

If you put your hope in officials whether they be federal, state or local then prepare to be disappointed.
 
  • Like
Reactions: borntrouble
I don't get why airtravel hasn't been reduced to "absolutely essential" weeks ago...
Unless you need someones unique skillset on site (e.g. to fix something special) it can often be done over video conferencing. Yes, it's not the same as personal contact, but what's that good for if you import the disease and then have to shutdown your business because of quarantine. The damage from the virus itself comes on top of that. That just from a business perspective...

Isn’t this a bit late to be declaring this? I’m sure Apple will have banned travel to these countries last week following advice from government and the WHO, although the US has infections spreading too.
Better late than never... Most people (incl. politicians) still don't get that there's a 5-14 days (in rare cases more) delay until things get serious (for some patients). When people show up in the ICU sh** already hit the fan weeks ago. That's what happened in Italy and that's why there is such a high death rate in their statistics.
Corona virus on a 737 MAX. Two disaster meet
Even the virus needs a functional plane to cross the Pacific... or Atlantic...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Guess Apple is OK with their employees to head on over to China to make sure production is just humming along. :)
 
Engineer gets sick in China, needs a medical evacuation, Apple gets stuck with the bill for a $100k LearJet flight because their travel insurance dropped coverage of China.

Or worse yet, engineer dies, Apple is forking out $1 Million+ in death benefits.

Given that Apple conservatively will sell 200,000+ units of iPhone 5G per day, I think it's worth the risk.
 
I’m run my own business based in the Bay Area, I’m cancelled two trips through Korea and rebooked a third. I’m not even close to a “the sky is falling“ type of person but better safe than sorry.

People acting’s like this virus is fake news are crazy. To many companies losing tons of money over it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: ijbond and mech986
Open office plans like Apple's are going to get a lot of people killed. They need to follower Twitter's lead and send everyone home now.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: Solomani
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.