Apple closes swath of retail stores in New York amid city’s COVID-19 surge

Apple has closed 16 of its stores in New York as the city sees a significant uptick in COVID-19 infections. 

During the temporary closures, customers will be permitted to place online orders and pick up their items in stores, according to Bloomberg. 

In addition to closures in New York, Apple has also shut down stores in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., Ohio, Texas, Georgia and Florida, the outlet added.

The closures come as the highly contagious omicron variant has swept across the country, including its significant impact on New York, which was also a hotspot in the early weeks of the pandemic.

As of Monday, New York City had a seven-day average of 14,025 daily cases, compared to its 28-day average of 6,786, data from New York City’s government showed.

Earlier this month, Apple also announced that it would not reopen its offices in February as the company had initially planned.

“We regularly monitor conditions and we will adjust our health measures to support the wellbeing of customers and employees,“ Apple said in a statement at the time.

”We remain committed to a comprehensive approach for our teams that combines regular testing with daily health checks, employee and customer masking, deep cleaning and paid sick leave,” the company added. 

The company has previously made efforts to return to the office in June and in September, but each push to reopen has been delayed as a result of COVID-19 concerns. At the time of the most recent delay, Apple did not announce when it intended to have its employees return to the office.

The Hill has reached out to Apple for comment.