Due to the surge of new COVID-19 cases, Apple will close 12 retail stores in California

After the surge in new COVID-19 cases in California, Apple said on Friday that it will temporarily close some retail stores in California. The news dragged Apple’s share price down 1.3% in after-hours trading.

According to Apple’s website, starting Friday and Saturday, at least 12 California retail stores will be closed, including those in Grove, Oaks, and Beverly Center, only a week before the peak of the holiday season time.

“We will take temporary closure measures soon, but the current online order pick-up and the previously arranged store only support appointments,” Apple said. The company also said that some stores will open one-on-one shopping consultations with experts that have been booked before December 22.

Apple took similar measures in June, closing about 32 retail stores. At that time, the number of new COVID-19 cases in the United States increased again after the lockdown was relaxed in May.

Since the spread of the new coronavirus, the United States has had 17.2 million infections and 311,102 related deaths, and California is one of the states hardest hit by the epidemic.