Apple stores now closed indefinitely due to coronavirus pandemic

Apple on Tuesday announced that it was extending the closures of all its retail stores outside of China “until further notice” due to the coᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ⁤⁤⁤⁤ᩚ𒀱ᩚᩚᩚronavirus pandemic.

The iPhone maker shut down its retail stores on Saturday for what it said would be a two-week🔜 period, but has eꦚxtended the time frame, according to a .

An Apple spokesperson confirmed that retail employees will𓂃 🦩continue to receive regular paychecks

“The most effecti﷽ve way to minimize risk of the virus’s transmission is to re🐈duce density and maximize social distance,” at the time.

Now the only Apple stores open in the world are the 42൲ locations it has in China, which it closed in January as the coronavirus rocked the country. All locations have since reopened.

Apple previously said that its Apple store employees would be paid during the duration of the two-week closure, but did not give any indication of if the policy would extend 🧸beyond that.

The company did not immediately respond to a reque🐠st for comment.

Last week, Apple canceled the in-person portions of its annual WWDC developer conference, which it said would instead take place in an “entirely new format.”

WWDC is one of 💃Apple’s most important events of the year, where it unveils new features for its iPhones, iPads and Macs, as well as shows off the latest version of its iOS softw🔴are.