Source: Apple
What you need to know
- Apple has reopened its Beijing stores.
- A video shows customers having their temperatures checked before entering.
- Despite the reopening, the store looks incredibly quiet.
A video has emerged from Apple's Sanlitun store in Beijing following its reopening, showing customers entering the store wearing masks and having their temperature checked.
Apple has reopened its Beijing stores after a period of closure due to concerns regarding the coronavirus outbreak. Apple closed some of its stores following its Q4 earnings call in January. A couple of days later, it was forced to close its entire operation in China, including its contact centers and corporate offices.
Some store closures were extended until at least February 15, and as of right now, all of Apple's other China stores are closed for at least another 7 days.
Yesterday, however, Apple quietly reopened its five Beijing stores. The stores are only open on limited hours, not their usual schedule, and customers are required to wear masks to enter.
A video from CNBC's Eunice Yoon has emerged showing customers having to submit to temperature checks before entering the store. In a Tweet she said:
Business attempts to normalize in #China despite #coronavirus. @Apple reopens its 5 Beijing stores today. Limited hours (11a-6p v. usual 10a-10p). One entrance only with temperature checks. $AAPL restricts # customers in stores. Busy but not thecrowds would see on #ValentinesDay.
As Yoon notes, the store looks incredibly quiet. She further notes that Beijing is on lockdown and that all citizens who have returned to Beijing should quarantine themselves for 14 days, according to local newspapers, anyone who refuses to quarantine themselves will be punished.
As you might imagine, a store full of shiny Apple products will likely make for a hotbed of germs, so store employees will likely be taking extra care to clean products at the end of their shifts.
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