Apple closes store in Italy, restricts employee travel amid coronavirus outbreak

As the coronavirus continues to spread globally, with a spike of cases in Italy and South Korea, Apple is taking steps to protect employees from coming into contact with the virus. 

A memo sent to Apple employees says travel to South Korea, Italy and China is restricted unless deemed “business-critical” and approved by a company vice president, according to a report from Bloomberg on Tuesday. Those who have travel plans to those countries are reportedly being advised to postpone or cancel trips and conduct business via phone or video instead. 

Apple will also reportedly close one of its stores in Italy this weekend. The Apple Store in the Oriocenter shopping mall, near the Il Caravaggio International Airport in the northern part of the country, will be closed, as reported by AppleInsider on Tuesday. The store closure comes from a government order by the Council of Ministers to shutter retail stores of a certain size in certain provinces to stop the spread of the virus. A Twitter user posted on Feb. 25 that multiple stores across Italy were closed this past weekend of Feb. 29-30. 

At the end of January, Apple closed stores in China due to the coronavirus outbreak and reopened them with limited hours later in February. 

South Korea and Italy are two of the countries with the highest number of cases of COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, following China, where the outbreak began. 

Apple didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. 

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