All Today at Apple sessions temporarily paused in US, Canada, and Mexico Apple stores

Even though the coronavirus epidemic seems to be subsiding in China, other parts of the world are yet to experience the peak of the infection. There are a total of 1663 officially registered cases of the COVID-19 in the US as of today, and 40 people have passed away from the disease. Apple has been tightening measures to battle the spread of the COVID-19 and protect employees and customers in the past few weeks, with US retail stores still hanging in on a normal work hours schedule. Now the company has decided to suspend all Today at Apple sessions at its retail stores in the US, Canada, and Mexico as the latest attempt to deal with the threat, 9to5Mac reports.

Trying to find a session online results in the following message: “As a precautionary measure, we are temporarily pausing Today at Apple programming. Please check back for updates.” This doesn’t come as a surprise as the company already canceled sessions in San Fransico and Seattle on March 9, with New York City stores following suit yesterday. Earlier this week, after the first Apple employee tested positive for coronavirus in Ireland, the company reacted by halving all seating places for customers and putting in place additional instructions for workers to stay at least a meter away from each other and clients.

At this point, closing stores in the US seems highly likely, as the viral wave hits the country with full force. Apple retail stores in China saw a full lockdown for a period of time but gradually reopened, with all 42 now fully operational. Apple has made no official announcement of reduced hours or a closedown yet, though all stores operate at a far from optimal capacity.