Apple closing seven Apple Stores in Texas due to COVID-19 spikes

AppleInsider · June 24, 2020 7:02PM

Apple is closing seven of its Apple Stores in Texas as a response to a COVID-19 flare-up in the state.

Apple Store Highland Village in Houston, Texas

The Cupertino tech giant had begun reopening select U.S. retail locations in May with new social distancing and hygiene measures. Apple shuttered all of its U.S. locations due to coronavirus in March.

Apple's closures of Texas stores is the second round of actions following a local resurgence of coronavirus cases.

"Due to current Covid-19 conditions in some of the communities we serve, we are temporarily closing stores in these areas. 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 previously in a statement about store closures.

The following Apple Stores will be closed until further notice:

Baybrook in Friendswood, Texas
First Colony Mall in Sugar Land, Texas
Highland Village in Houston, Texas
Houston Galleria in Houston, Texas
Memorial City in Houston, Texas
Willowbrook Mall in Houston, Texas
The Woodlands in Woodlands, Texas

hodar · June 24, 2020 8:29PM

As we emerge from our homes, the uptick in cases is pretty much expected.

What is serious, is "is there a significant uptick in hospitalizations"?

Bear in mind, back in March when this started emerging, we knew it was potentially deadly - but we did not know of a treatment protocol, we did not know who was the most susceptible, we did not know that there were significant number of people who were asymptomatic. An asymptomatic person does NOT spread the virus like a symptomatic person does - which makes perfect sense, if you think about it.

Who spreads virus's more, a person sneezing, coughing and with a runny nose, or a person who is completely asymptomatic? There are many people who may have had this, and either thought it was a regular flu, never realized they were sick, or thought it was a bad cold that hung around for weeks. Panic if you want, but it's part of the environment now, you can't hide from it anymore than you can hide from West Nile, Common Cold, or warts. You are going to be exposed at some point.

Life is inherently dangerous, you can do many things to mitigate risks, such as not engaging in known risky behavior; but hiding at home for the rest of your life, really isn't living, is it?.

[deleted user] · June 24, 2020 9:13PM

hodar said:

As we emerge from our homes, the uptick in cases is pretty much expected.
What is serious, is "is there a significant uptick in hospitalizations"?

Bear in mind, back in March when this started emerging, we knew it was potentially deadly - but we did not know of a treatment protocol, we did not know who was the most susceptible, we did not know that there were significant number of people who were asymptomatic. An asymptomatic person does NOT spread the virus like a symptomatic person does - which makes perfect sense, if you think about it.

Who spreads virus's more, a person sneezing, coughing and with a runny nose, or a person who is completely asymptomatic? There are many people who may have had this, and either thought it was a regular flu, never realized they were sick, or thought it was a bad cold that hung around for weeks. Panic if you want, but it's part of the environment now, you can't hide from it anymore than you can hide from West Nile, Common Cold, or warts. You are going to be exposed at some point.

Life is inherently dangerous, you can do many things to mitigate risks, such as not engaging in known risky behavior; but hiding at home for the rest of your life, really isn't living, is it?.

The hospitalization rate has increased dramatically in Texas and in particular the Houston area. They are currently at 98% ICU utilization. All of the stores on that list are in the Houston area.

Your last paragraph is a false dichotomy which is a logically fallacy. Our options are limited to exist as is or hide at home for the rest of our lives.

williamlondon · June 24, 2020 9:16PM

hodar said:

What is serious, is "is there a significant uptick in hospitalizations"?

As expected, one follows the other: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/jun/24/texas-coronavirus-cases-infections-houston-hospitals

So, the answer is most definitely, yes, there is a significant uptick in hospitalisations. Let's hope the states experiencing surges can get this back under control, and quick. Sadly, some seem to be defending the US' #1 position of infections and deaths vigorously, but sometimes you just can't fix stupid.

hammeroftruth · June 24, 2020 9:23PM

I’m sure Apple retail employees who work in areas with COVID-19 resurgences are relieved that their employer is more concerned about their well being than the bottom line.

genius_mac · June 24, 2020 9:35PM

Even the governor that has downplayed the virus and has rushed to reopen Texas in early May, is now calling for people to stay home:

https://www.click2houston.com/news/texas/2020/06/24/texas-governor-says-state-facing-massive-covid-19-outbreak-expects-state-to-pass-5000-new-cases-again-wednesday/

Houston area is at near capacity in hospitals. Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio metro areas have had significant increases in cases and hospitalizations.

Texas has had 5x increase in daily positive cases since reopening, and is now #5 in the nation on number of cases:

https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/texas-coronavirus-cases.html

Also WHO clarified their comments to indicate the difference between asymptomatic and presymptomatic:

On Tuesday, Van Kerkhove and her colleague Mike Ryan, MD, executive director for health emergencies at the WHO, explained that there are two distinct kinds of silent transmission: “asymptomatic” (spreading a disease when you don’t have symptoms) and “presymptomatic” (spreading it before symptoms start). Both are difficult to stop. Presymptomatic spread is believed to be far more common than asymptomatic spread.

Van Kerkhove said published and unpublished studies discussed in WHO briefings suggest that between 6% and 41% of people who test positive for the virus will be asymptomatic. Even less is known about what proportion of these people go on to infect others.

The new coronavirus can infect the upper respiratory tract -- the nose and throat, said Ryan, adding that any situation where a person is expelling air under pressure may drive the virus out. He gave the example of someone shouting at their friend in a loud nightclub.

“Some studies have been done on this -- singing, speaking loudly, exertion, maybe in a gym where you’re breathing very heavily,” he said. “Clearly that is playing a role in transmission, there’s no question.”

While true asymptomatic transmission might be uncommon, what’s likely to be more common is presymptomatic transmission. Presymptomatic transmission also occurs with the flu. Studies have shown that people with COVID-19 can infect others anywhere from 1 to 3 days before they get sick, Van Kerkhove said.

Ryan also pointed out that in COVID-19, a person’s viral load, the amount of the virus they have in their body, appears to peak right as they get their first symptoms.

“That means you could be in a restaurant feeling perfectly well and just starting to get a fever, but you’re feeling OK, you didn’t think you needed to stay home. That’s the moment when your viral load could be quite high,” said Ryan.

That’s why masks are important, he said, especially when you can’t stand or sit at a distance from others.

“There is this period of time, you know, where even a professor of infectious diseases themselves wouldn’t know that I’m getting COVID,” Ryan said. “You’re not aware of your status.”

“It’s because the disease can spread at that moment that the disease is so contagious,” he said. “That’s why it has spread around the world in such an uncontained way."

https://www.webmd.com/lung/news/20200609/who-clairifies-comments-on-asymptomatic-covid-spread

foregoneconclusion · June 25, 2020 12:23PM

Happy_Noodle_Boy said: "A new study, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, used data on protests from more than 300 of the largest US cities, and found no evidence that coronavirus cases grew in the weeks following the beginning of the protests."

In Massachusetts, the infection rate for people who participated in BLM protests essentially matched the infection rate for the general population at 2.5%. There were over 17,000 protestors who got tested, so it's a solid sample size. Most people wore masks and it was an outdoor setting with people being on the move and marching the majority of the time. That's what was credited with keeping the viral exposure at standard levels, despite the lack of social distancing.

foregoneconclusion · June 25, 2020 12:24PM

fastasleep said: No, it's the dumbshits who think they're somehow preserving their freedom by potentially expelling viral particles into the air without masks and threatening the health of their fellow citizens. Meanwhile we had 60K people march silently in Seattle and everyone was wearing masks.

And it's all the same people that claim they're deeply religious and love their neighbors as much as themselves.

mtriviso · June 25, 2020 12:39PM

This is an excellent move by Apple. It will prevent people from going to the Apple store to buy stuff! Outstanding!

[deleted user] · June 25, 2020 2:25PM

foregoneconclusion said:

Happy_Noodle_Boy said: "A new study, published this month by the National Bureau of Economic Research, used data on protests from more than 300 of the largest US cities, and found no evidence that coronavirus cases grew in the weeks following the beginning of the protests."

In Massachusetts, the infection rate for people who participated in BLM protests essentially matched the infection rate for the general population at 2.5%. There were over 17,000 protestors who got tested, so it's a solid sample size. Most people wore masks and it was an outdoor setting with people being on the move and marching the majority of the time. That's what was credited with keeping the viral exposure at standard levels, despite the lack of social distancing.

So the article is accurate. Also another one about what is driving infections and again, the narrative that it is protests is debunked.
https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/06/24/883017035/what-contact-tracing-may-tell-about-cluster-spread-of-the-coronavirus

edited June 2020

[deleted user] · June 25, 2020 4:51PM

mtriviso said:

This is an excellent move by Apple. It will prevent people from going to the Apple store to buy stuff! Outstanding!

It is really hard to fathom how anyone can lack any sort of empathy. All these stores in in Houston. Houston ICU beds are at capacity and daily new COVID-19 cases are at their highest. The situation there is such that anyone needing ICU care, covid or otherwise, is at risk of not getting it which increases the chances of death. But you think Apple should remain open and put the health of their employees and customers at risk to make some money.

dewme · June 25, 2020 9:11PM

foregoneconclusion said:

fastasleep said: No, it's the dumbshits who think they're somehow preserving their freedom by potentially expelling viral particles into the air without masks and threatening the health of their fellow citizens. Meanwhile we had 60K people march silently in Seattle and everyone was wearing masks.

And it's all the same people that claim they're deeply religious and love their neighbors as much as themselves.

There may actually be some logic behind the "anti maskers." If you think about the probability of infection from a "coverage surface area" perspective they probably believe that sticking their entire head firmly up their ass is giving them far better infection coverage than simply covering their mouth with a mask. It kind of makes sense, at least to them.

Apple closing seven Apple Stores in Texas due to COVID-19 spikes

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