Apple Temporarily Closes 3 North American Stores Due to Omicron Spread... Office Return Indefinitely Postponed

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee] Apple is temporarily closing three stores in North America due to the spread of Omicron. Additionally, the return-to-office timeline for employees has been postponed indefinitely.

On the 15th (local time), according to CNBC and Bloomberg, Apple decided to temporarily close three North American stores: in Miami, Annapolis in Maryland, and Ontario in Canada.

In a statement, Apple said, "We regularly monitor the situation and will adjust all measures to support the health of our employees and customers."

Apple added, "We will conduct COVID-19 tests for all employees before the stores reopen," and "the reopening depends on the spread of COVID-19."

Furthermore, Apple postponed the return-to-office date indefinitely. Initially, last month, Apple had postponed the return-to-office date for U.S. employees to February next year. However, due to the spread of Omicron in the U.S., the return date was postponed indefinitely from the originally scheduled February 1.

On the same day, Apple CEO Tim Cook said in a memo to internal employees, "We are postponing the return-to-office date to an unspecified date," and "As Omicron cases increase in various regions worldwide, we strongly recommend COVID-19 vaccination and booster shots."

Previously, Apple had postponed the return-to-office date several times to June, September, October, January, and February. Additionally, Apple announced a mask mandate for all customers visiting stores in the U.S.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.