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Apple has closed its stores in New York indefinitely due to the rise in new corona infections, and stores in other US cities are also not open to the public
Photo: Mike Segar / REUTERS
According to the "New York Times", a good 204 million US citizens are currently fully vaccinated against the corona virus - this is 62 percent of the population and thus significantly less than in other wealthy industrialized countries. The vaccination rates are drifting apart regionally and are between 83 and 15 percent, the willingness to vaccinate tends to be lower in republican states than in democratically ruled states. New corona infections are currently on the rise in the USA: The Johns Hopkins University reported around 190,000 new infections per day on average over the past seven days, according to the "Wall Street Journal".
New York City and the state of New York are particularly hard hit, as an overview in the "New York Times" newspaper shows.
There were around 45,000 new infections on December 24th alone - the highest daily value since the beginning of the pandemic and more than in any other US state.
The US health authority CDC announced in early December that the Omikron variant had become the predominant variant in the USA within a few weeks.
Apple stores also closed in other US cities
The technology company Apple is now taking action and has closed its 16 stores in New York for an indefinite period, as reported by the financial news agency Bloomberg. Apple branches also in Los Angeles, Washington, Ohio, Texas, Georgia and Florida were at least temporarily closed. However, Apple continues to offer its customers the option of placing orders online and picking them up in the entrance area of the stores. The customers could not enter the shops: Browsing, buying or even technical support at the Genius Bar are not possible with it.
"We regularly monitor the conditions and will adjust our health measures to support the well-being of customers and employees," Apple said in a statement on Monday.
Employees in stores in the USA would have to have themselves tested every day, and they are also required to wear a mask, as is the case for customers.
At the beginning of December, a US court in the fight against the coronavirus ordered the reintroduction of a nationwide compulsory vaccination or test for large companies, which affects 80 million American workers.
Opponents of the conditions have turned to the US Supreme Court and want to have them reversed.
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