Temperature Checks, Face Coverings; New Requirements For Shoppers When Apple Stores Reopen
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF/CNN) -- As business restrictions begin easing across the San Francisco Bay Area, Apple officials are planning modifications to their shopping experience to call in line with COVID-19 prevention measures.
While all the Silicon Valley giant's San Francisco Bay Area stores remained closed on Monday, officials said they would be reopening them soon. A store in Boise opened last week.
But shopping will be a drastically different experience than before the COVID-19 outbreak began and stores were shuttered in March.
So far, nearly 100 Apple stores around the world have reopened with extensive changes, including temperature checks at the door, more frequent deep cleanings and requirements that staff and shoppers wear face coverings.
Apple is also limiting the number of people allowed in stores and will begin curbside drop-off and pick-up options at some locations, according to a statement the company released Sunday.
Reopening an Apple store takes planning that depends on multiple factors, said Deirdre O'Brien, Apple's senior vice president of retail and people.
"We look at every available piece of data — including local cases, near and long‑term trends, and guidance from national and local health officials," she wrote in the statement. "These are not decisions we rush into — and a store opening in no way means that we won't take the preventative step of closing it again should local conditions warrant."
In China, Apple stores have been "safely open for months," the company said. All 42 of its China locations were shut down for about a month in February during the peak of the outbreak there.
Apple has reopened one store in South Korea's capital, Seoul, as well as all stores in Australia and Austria. Stores in Germany also reopened last week.
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