Apple is reportedly closing about 20 of its retail stores across the United States due to the surge of COVID-19 cases throughout the country.
On Monday, the company said that retail locations would temporarily shut their doors for several reasons related to the spread of the omicron variant, according toThe New York Times.
While some storefronts were closed due to a staffing shortage, others were shut down as a precautionary measure to avoid spreading the virus, a spokesperson for Apple told theTimes.
“We regularly monitor conditions, and we will adjust our health measures to support the well-being of customers and employees,” spokesperson Amy Bessette said.
Bessette did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
JOHANNES EISELE/getty
The store closures come as the omicron variant rapidly spreads across the U.S. and the world. Over the weekend, Dr. Anthony Fauci warned that COVID-19 caseswill continue to surgefollowing the holidays.
The nation’s leading infectious disease expert, 81, said Sunday on ABC’sThis Weekthat the United Statesaveraged around 150,000 casesof the virus over the last seven days, and that “it likely will go much higher” in the coming weeks as the omicron variant continues spreading rapidly.
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“Well, there’s one thing that’s for sure that we all agree upon, that it is extraordinarily contagious,” Fauci toldThis Weekco-anchor Jonathan Karl.
He added, “We’re particularly worried about those who are in that unvaccinated class, that, you know, tens and tens of millions of Americans who are eligible for vaccination who have not been vaccinated. Those are the most vulnerable ones when you have a virus that is extraordinarily effective in getting to people and infecting them the way omicron is.”
A dose of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine.Daniel Pockett/Getty
Health officials have been scrambling to learn more about the new variant since it was first spotted in South Africa.The strain is the most contagious yet, has more mutations than any before it and seems to evade the previously-effective two-dose vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna.
According to the CDC, data from South Africa and the U.K. shows that two doses of the mRNA vaccine are approximately 35 percent effective against the omicron variant. A booster shot elevates effectiveness to 75 percent.
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source: people.com
