BIG: Apple to close all retail stores outside China, donate $15 mn to fight coronavirus

Apple Inc CEO Tim Cook announced on March 14 that the company will be closing all its retails outside China until March 27 to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in workplaces and communities. Cook also pledged $15 million to help the worldwide recovery from the novel coronavirus. He said that the company is matching donations of its employees with two-to-one proportion to support COVID-19 response efforts locally, nationally and internationally.

“Apple’s committed donations to the global COVID-19 response — both to help treat those who are sick and to help lessen the economic and community impacts of the pandemic — today reached $15 million worldwide,” said Cook in a statement.

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Quotes Lincoln

The top executive also expressed his gratitude to his team in China, which has witnessed a decline in the rate of coronavirus cases, for their “determination and spirit”. The Apple Inc CEO said that the rate of infections has “dramatically declined” but the effects are still strongly felt. Cook thanked the operations team and partners for their “remarkable efforts” to restore the supply chain in China.

Cook quoted former US President Abraham Lincoln for the time of great adversity saying, “The occasion is piled high with difficulty, and we must rise with the occasion. As our case is new, so we must think anew, and act anew.”

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