Apple temporarily closes its retail stores in France due to a national lockdown


France has entered its second COVID-19 lockdown as local cases continue to surge, prompting Apple to temporarily close many of its retail stores across the country.

9to5Mac has the story:

Thanks to Express storefronts, a temporary service model Apple recently rolled out for safe and efficient product pickups, several Apple Stores in France will be able to serve customers in a limited capacity. Three stores in the country already transformed into Express storefronts in October. These locations do not accept walk-ins or offer Genius Support without an appointment. Customers with online orders or Genius Support appointments made before October 29 will be able to pick up their products.

These Express storefronts are currently available at Apple’s Opéra, Les Quatre Temps and Rosny 2 retail store. The Cupertino giant operates 20 retail stores in the country.

France entered its second lockdown earlier today while Germany, another huge European economy and nation, is prepping to enter another lockdown of its own as well.

French President Emmanuel Macron on Wednesday announced that new lockdown measures are going into effect Friday, October 30. People are only allowed to leave their homes for specific cases, like medical appointments, food shopping, family reasons and to commute to work. The vast majority of businesses in the 65 million people country have been ordered to send employees to work from home. The lockdown will be enforced until at least December 1.