Apple Stores in Beijing Screening Customers for Fever Amid Coronavirus Outbreak

As expected, Apple reopened its five retail stores in the Beijing area today as the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in China continues.

In a video shared by CNBC senior correspondent Eunice Yoon, Apple employees can be seen checking the body temperatures of customers as they enter the store for signs of fever. Yoon says Apple is also limiting the number of customers allowed in the store at once, resulting in smaller crowds than normally seen.

apple store beijing
The stores in Beijing have reduced hours of 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time. Apple's other stores in China remain closed until further notice.

There remains a lot of uncertainty regarding the coronavirus outbreak, which has resulted in extended shipping estimates for some Apple products and could impact the company's overall revenue this quarter. Apple operates over 40 stores in China, which represents less than 10 percent of its retail locations worldwide.


Apple recently provided its retail stores, authorized service providers, and carrier partners with an enhanced cleaning guide that recommends that demo Apple products be cleaned at least twice per day. The document, shared with MacRumors, contains best practices for using microfiber cloths as well as hand washing tips for employees.

Popular Stories

m5 macbook pro deal

Why You Shouldn't Buy the Next MacBook Pro

Tuesday February 10, 2026 4:27 pm PST by
Apple is planning to launch new MacBook Pro models as soon as early March, but if you can, this is one generation you should skip because there's something much better in the works. We're waiting on 14-inch and 16-inch MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, with few changes other than the processor upgrade. There won't be any tweaks to the design or the display, but later this...
iOS 26

Apple Releases iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3

Wednesday February 11, 2026 10:07 am PST by
Apple today released iOS 26.3 and iPadOS 26.3, the latest updates to the iOS 26 and iPadOS 26 operating systems that came out in September. The new software comes almost two months after Apple released iOS 26.2 and iPadOS 26.2. The new software can be downloaded on eligible iPhones and iPads over-the-air by going to Settings > General > Software Update. According to Apple's release notes, ...
Apple Logo Zoomed

Apple Expected to Launch These 10+ Products Over the Coming Months

Tuesday February 10, 2026 6:33 am PST by
It has been a slow start to 2026 for Apple product launches, with only a new AirTag and a special Apple Watch band released so far. We are still waiting for MacBook Pro models with M5 Pro and M5 Max chips, the iPhone 17e, a lower-cost MacBook with an iPhone chip, long-rumored updates to the Apple TV and HomePod mini, and much more. Apple is expected to release/update the following products...
iPhone 16e Bottom Crop

Apple Reportedly Unveiling a New iPhone Next Week

Tuesday February 10, 2026 1:51 pm PST by
Apple plans to announce the iPhone 17e on Thursday, February 19, according to Macwelt, the German equivalent of Macworld. The report said the iPhone 17e will be announced in a press release on the Apple Newsroom website, so do not expect an event for this device specifically. The iPhone 17e will be a spec-bumped successor to the iPhone 16e. Rumors claim the device will have four key...
Apple Logo Black

Apple Acquires New Database App

Wednesday February 11, 2026 6:44 am PST by
Apple acquired Canadian graph database company Kuzu last year, it has emerged. The acquisition, spotted by AppleInsider, was completed in October 2025 for an undisclosed sum. The company's website was subsequently taken down and its Github repository was archived, as is commonplace for Apple acquisitions. Kuzu was "an embedded graph database built for query speed, scalability, and easy of ...

Top Rated Comments

Mr. Dee Avatar
78 months ago
This seems almost Appleocalyptic
Score: 12 Votes (Like | Disagree)
centauratlas Avatar
78 months ago
It does little good to check for fever since people are contagious 5-14 days prior to fever. It doesn't hurt, but this is security health theater solely to calm people.

I can see them perhaps finding later that if my normal temperature is 97.6, in the 5-14 days prior to a traditional fever my temp was 98.5-98.9. An Apple Watch that knows your individual normal temperature and the same information from huge populations could perhaps be a good diagnostic tool in a few years. If it ever measures body temp.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
outskirtsofinfinity Avatar
78 months ago
It's highly contagious even when non-symptomatic. Didn't they get that memo?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mw360 Avatar
78 months ago

It's highly contagious even when non-symptomatic. Didn't they get that memo?
Maybe they get their memos from the WHO...

https://www.who.int/news-room/q-a-detail/q-a-coronaviruses

According to recent reports, it may be possible that people infected with 2019-nCoV may be infectious before showing significant symptoms. However, based on currently available data, the people who have symptoms are causing the majority of virus spread.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
78 months ago
Beijing's Apple Store employees are like: "Hurry up and buy" in their Menace II Society voice.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
orbital~debris Avatar
78 months ago
Following the COVID-19 outbreak, I could see Apple decide to get involved in this area of health, perhaps looking into how their current & future technologies could be brought to bear on identifying or tracking diseases of this nature.

I think they could contribute significantly in this field, building on what they’ve learned from developing Apple Watch.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)