'White Powder' envelope led to evacuations in Apple's biggest office; Here's what happened
Apple Park Campus was partially evacuated after an envelope was discovered with a white substance when the employees rushed stating that it was harmful.
- World News
- 2 min read
Apple Park, Headquarter in Cupertino, California, was partially evacuated after an envelope was discovered with a strange white substance in it, after which the employees rushed stating that it was 'harmful.'
Even though the white powder substance was later discovered to be non-hazardous, it created a hue and cry in Apple Park.
As per The Verge, Santa Clara County Fire Department Captain, Justin Stockman, said that the envelope contained a "white powder substance" in envelope, which created panic amongst employees followed by a fire alarm. Emergency personnel said that the situation was later taken under control, and employees were soon allowed to go back inside. However, there was no clarity on what the white powder substance was consisted of.
Apple plans phased approach for working
After the ruckus, Apple instructed its staff through e-mail that there was no presence of hazardous supplies, as accessed by The Verge. The electronic mail instructed staff that the authorities have concluded that there was no presence of hazardous substances. It said that operations at Apple Park have again resumed, and all sections are open.
Advertisement
The company, however, did not elaborate on the incident in much detail, or what the white powder substance was. Meanwhile, Apple rescheduled its return-to-office for employees several times amid the uncertain COVID-19 pandemic, before announcing that it will take a phased approach to its hybrid work system in April.
Only recently, Apple had finally announced a 'phased approach' to return to the office environment since there still are a lot of countries witnessing a rising trend of COVID cases. Meanwhile, other companies like Google, Microsoft, and Twitter have also planned to resume work from the office. So far, India has not seen a rise in COVID-19 cases whereas the experts say it varies from country to country. While in some places it has could see a delayed release of the Omicron variant, in some cases it was the spread of Omicron’s second version BA.2 combined with the aggressive lifting of COVID restrictions, and pandemic fatigue as reported.