Apple said late Friday that it will close all its retail stores, except for those in China, within the next two weeks to reduce the risk of transmission of the Coronavirus.
"We will close all retail stores outside Greater China until March 27," Apple CEO Tim Cook wrote in a message posted on the company's website.
"In all our offices, we move to flexible working arrangements all over the world outside Greater China, and this means that team members must work remotely if their job permits," he added.
He stressed that customers can continue shopping on the Apple website, and that the support page will continue to work for service and troubleshooting.
Apple reopened all 42 of its commercial stores in China on Friday, after it indicated a marked decline in the disease in the countries that were the source of the virus.
Cook wrote in his message that the company's contributions to the global response to the Corona virus to help treat patients and reduce economic and societal impacts reached $ 15 million on Friday.
Apple's statement also mentioned that hourly retail workers will continue to receive their wages according to their usual hours of operation, and that company leave policies have been extended to cover the period of rest needed to recover from illness.
More than 138,000 people were injured worldwide, and more than 5,000 died, according to Reuters' tally for what governments announce.