Apple cuts seating for customers in half in US retail stores to battle coronavirus spread

After the first COVID-19 positive test of an Apple employee in Cork, Ireland, yesterday, the company is implementing extra measures in US retail stores in order to battle the spread of the virus. Last week, Apple employees were encouraged to stay at home if possible, and two days ago, Apple gave the green light for unlimited sick leave to any worker with coronavirus-like symptoms. Extra sanitization units are in place, and demo devices are disinfected more frequently.

You won’t be able to loiter much in Apple retail stores now, as new measures include cutting seating places for customers by half. The company also advised its employees to keep a distance of at least one meter (3 feet) from each other as well as from clients, AppleInsider reports. As of now, there’s no information on working hours of US Apple stores being reduced, but the situation is evolving constantly.

Apple closed temporarily all 49 stores in China and reopened 29 of them with additional crowd-control measures like temperature checks for the customers and reduced working hours. Some of the company’s stores in Italy have also been closed for the weekends after a government order from the President of the Council of Ministers of the country.

There are a total of 1,050 confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US at the moment with 29 deaths. If the situation deteriorates, Apple could start bringing some of the more drastic measures to its local stores - including limiting working hours and more thorough customer checks.