Hardly surprising given the fact every device in the store gets touched by hundreds of people every day.....no way they can keep those screens clean all day long and Apple wouldn't want a localised outbreak linked to one of their stores!!
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Apple to Close All Retail Stores Outside of China Until March 27th
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Lol China open, they have known about it since Nov 19 and kept it silent.
Yeah! Or people sitting at the wooden tables for service requests, those hands are going everywhere.
Expect Apple stock tanking on Monday, closing the highest grossing stores on the planet for 3 weeks? Investors no likey!
Lung cancer didn't stop people from smoking cigarettes.
The regular flu and pneumonia didn't encourage people to wash their hands.
SARS didn't either.
COVID-19 will be just a new normal. It will be like the regular flu, where yearly infection and death will be simply part of statistics.
Maybe not quite as ironic, just at different points on the timeline.
The China stores were closed and reopened.
All the Apple stores in China were closed since middle of February and were just re-opened yesterday. I think the rest of the world is now going through what China had gone through in the past month.
The only ways things change are when laws change or when it affects us directly or when death is a real possibility. Sports and religion are mostly suspended. That’s pretty huge. But yep, I highly suspect nothing much will change on a people to people level.
Not sure how many people are aware of The Handsmaid Tales and Gilead but it’s kind of scary if you think about how quickly governments can shut everything down and in a way they would want.
The connivence of easily going into an Apple store for almost any technical problem is an advantage they offer over most their competitors. It’s one of the things many costumers consider when buying Apple products. That is way more important to the brand then just having a retail space to buy products.
Clear message? lol Glorified influenza. The same people who might die of respiratory problems due to influenza are the same ones who might die from Corona. The only difference is that it's more contagious and currently there is no vaccine. Actually they have a vaccine but you know how it works. People like Bill Gates keep the vaccine for themselves and it gets release when enough fear has built up then the medical corporations get billion$ on day one.
Half of China's infected have already recovered that's why they are actually opening their Apple stores this week. The rest of the world lagged behind the time-line so that's why the rest of the world is getting worse now. Plus places like Italy and USA have crappy care and places like Canada don't have enough doctors and nurses.
There are other factors too. All the humid places like Singapore, Taiwan, Africa, Sri Lanka have so few cases and have stopped any spread of it because it's over 50% humidity and over 27 degrees. That's why places like cold Hokkaido experienced huge spikes in infection. Still freezing winter in Hokkaido. It's spiking in Canada as well because it's still cold and no humidity. Soon it will be humid in Kyoto, Osaka etc and the virus will subside. Viruses are instantly dead with 27 degrees and 50% humidity.
There is another factor why Japan is able to keep it under control with relative ease. Japan's process is different than the rest of the world. Japan treats its very ill first and tells everyone to stay home. Countries like Italy treat everyone and their dog and then run out of beds and medicine and staff. Only now are other countries following the Japanese system. If it wasn't for that cruise ship with all the 4000 infected foreigners in Yokohama, there would be hardly any cases in Japan.
Taiwan is very safe. Not only did they ban all Chinese from the start, they have high humidity. And they are very strict. You cannot enter an establishment without a mask, thermal scan and washing your hands with alcohol.
Unfortunately, some nations, (you know who), riot and stockpile everything for themselves and run out buying guns because it's a society of distrust, racism, fear and no tolerance.
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A very very sensible option to take. I admire Apples stance on this, although it has noticeably come a little late, they are now certainly leading the way on this. But one could also argue they’ve got the money to weather mass store closures for two weeks. However as there stores are full of devices that are handled by hundreds of different people’s hands every day, and they can be very crowded at times, this is a very sensible and admirable choice they’ve made.
I am also in the same boat. I want to return an item. It’s expensive and I don’t want store credit as it will hit my credit card and interest. Apple should extend returns until the stores reopen.
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Same. Apple must extend the return period.
This overreaction is going to cause more long lasting problems than the virus. Long term financial hurt that could have been avoided. Yes, its serious and should be taken as such. The health care system and governments need to step up and take care of the sick. Its inevitable that will happen. Those at risk should do what they need to to avoid infection. But when people start hoarding toilet paper for god’s sake, its ridiculous. Stop panicking and buy what you need when you need it and the shelves will stay stocked. The Swine Flu infected millions and many people died but life went on with no panic or mass closures. It's not the apocalypse. People need to be reasonable about their reactions.
The pandemic appears to have peaked already in China. Apple stores were closed there for some time already - some only just reopened in the last few days.
I want to be on the denominator 😂
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No, Tim, they said the most effective way is for everyone to wear the highest grade masks that they can get their hands on.
Everyone seems to be picking 2 weeks to close things. The local schools in my area, Disney World, Universal, Busch Gardens, and now all the Apple stores.... Is there a magic fix coming within the next 2 weeks?
Yeah, probably Covid-19 will just become another one of the many hundreds of Coronaviruses and Rhinoviruses that circulate and cause “common cold” symptoms. Most people will be exposed at some point when they’re young, suffer mild symptoms (or not even notice), and gain immunity for life.
The reason why flu is so dangerous is it’s ability to recombine into new strains every year to which we have no immunity. Of course new Coronavirus strains can emerge too, but probably not with the same regularity and virility that flu does.
IMO a bit of a knee jerk. This is fanning hysteria. I went to the store last night to pickup some tooth paste. The line was to the back of the store as people were panic buying. Totally unnecessary. People and the media have been watching too many apocalyptic tv series and movies. These actions, while done with the intent to help, may actually be worse in the long run. I feel for folks that are being told to go home and not get paid. Sure large companies like Apple and Disney say they will continue to pay wages, but doesn’t help the smaller stores and people in the service industry that live paycheck to paycheck. If this continues its not the virus I worry about.
Agree. China already announced a total ban on the wild meat trade, including the farming of wild species.
Of course, how strictly they enforce it is the question. It could just push it underground and corrupt officials could turn a blind eye.
Also, Traditional Chinese Medicine is exempted from the ban.