Apple will reopen 21 of its 22 retail locations in Australia on Thursday, May 7, according to Apple's dedicated websites for each of the stores. All of the stores that are reopening will operate on limited hours for the time being.
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Apple's sole Australian store that will remain closed is the Apple Sydney store. As noted by 9to5Mac, this store closed in January for major renovations, and it is possible that the global health crisis caused a construction delay.
All of Apple's retail stores in Australia and elsewhere in the world have been closed since March 14, with the exception of stores in Greater China and a single store in South Korea that reopened in April.
Apple CEO Tim Cook last week said that Apple was going to reopen stores in Austria and Australia this week, and Apple's sole Apple Store in Vienna will be reopening on Tuesday, May 5.
There is still no word on when stores in North America will reopen, but Cook also said that Apple is planning to reopen a few stores in the U.S. starting in May. Store openings will be staggered, with Apple evaluating data that includes local guidelines and recommendations before reopening.
Apple plans to reopen stores on a city by city, county by county basis, and will implement social distancing measures. In South Korea, where one store has been open since mid-April, Apple has been focusing on device repairs and order pickups rather than standard shopping and browsing, and the same protocols will be followed in Austria and Australia.
Apple plans to require temperature checks before customers are allowed in the store, and a limited number of people will be able to enter the store at one time, leading to potential delays for walk-in customers. In a statement to Bloomberg, Apple said that it recommends customers buy online for delivery or use in-store pickup where possible.
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But it tells half the story, and unfortunately most of that story is now being driven by the USA. Some parts of the world are actually pretty much fine at this point.Here's a graphic to put things into perspective: World wide Covid death trend :(
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
Australia and New Zealand's federal government took aggressive, prompt and unified action, and it's paying off. Hell, New Zealand has reported no new cases today. They will have far less lives lost per capita, and their economy will be far less hard hit. The same can't be said about countries like the USA. We're now in this for the long haul. Probably the rest of 2020.
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
That is dramatic, but it's not telling us anything about where we are in the course of the pandemic. More useful graphs are logarithmic and incremental, not linear and cumulative. If the disease stopped 100% in its tracks a month from now, the graph you post would look even worse, even though the pandemic was over.Here's a graphic to put things into perspective: World wide Covid death trend :(
https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/
You can, however, greatly reduce deaths and serious occurrences by flattening the curve through reduced social contact. Yes, people will still be exposed to the disease, but hospitals won't be overwhelmed, which leads to avoidable deaths; and, if things go well, a vaccine will become available mitigating the effects of exposure in the future for many people.You CANNOT achieve herd immunity without the ‘herd’ being exposed to the virus. Staying locked up does nothing to achieve or even promote so-called herd immunity. Staying locked up means you remain vulnurable to the virus forever.
I demand at least 5 handshakes, 3 talking way too close, and 5 staring contests!Except expect the hands-on and face-to-face experiences to change somewhat.
lol jk