Apple to shut seven retail stores in Houston again as COVID-19 cases jump

(Reuters) – Apple Inc is set to shut seven of its retail locations in Houston, Texas again due to an increase in the number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States, the company said Wednesday.

Apple has said it is monitoring conditions in each community where it operates stores to determine when to open and close them. The Houston re-closures follow similar moves last week in Florida, Arizona, South Carolina, and North Carolina.

“We take this step with an abundance of caution as we closely monitor the situation and we look forward to having our teams and customers back as soon as possible,” Apple said in a statement.

(Reporting by Ayanti Bera in Bengaluru and Stephen Nellis in San Francisco; Editing by Devika Syamnath and Nick Zieminski)