Even with the reopening of malls, Apple stores in SĂŁo Paulo and Rio will remain closed

This week, the governments of SĂŁo Paulo and Rio de Janeiro eased the quarantine caused by the new Coronavirus (COVID-19), allowing the reopening of shopping malls, which have been operating since yesterday (6/11). Among them, there are two that interest us: the MorumbiShopping (SP) and the VillageMall (RJ).

Apple’s Brazilian stores, as we know, are located in these complexes and it is natural to imagine that, with their reopening, Apple’s retail outlets were also reopened to the public. But not.

Apple Morumbi with the new 5K screen in the background

Apple Morumbi

In contact with both shopping centers, the MacMagazine it was reported that Apple Stores remain closed, with no plans to reopen. The measure is in line with the company’s strategy of reopening stores only when it is sure that it can safely serve its customers.

Apple VillageMall

Apple VillageMall

We are attentive to all available data, including the number of local cases, short and long term trends, and the guidelines of local and national health agencies. We will not make any hasty decisions – and opening a store in no way means that we will not close it again as a precaution if circumstances demand it.

In short: no Apple Stores opening doors in Brazil. Meanwhile…

Stores reopening in the UK

… Apple’s retail outlets in the UK will start reopening on June 15th (next Monday).

Apple Covent Garden

Apple Covent Garden

According to the The Independent, Apple will reopen all stores on England and on northern Ireland, as points of sale in Scotland and in Wales will remain temporarily closed. As in other countries, the company will follow strict safety measures (wearing masks and temperature measurement) and social detachment guidelines for the safety of customers and employees.

Apple Buchanan Street Glasgow

Speaking of Scotland, Apple changed the name of its store in Glasgow; before titled Apple Buchanan Street, it is now called Apple Glasgow.

Apple Glasgow

Apple Glasgow

Changes like this happen quite often, since many Apple retail outlets change locations and, in some cases, the old name just doesn’t make sense anymore. This episode, however, is quite different, since Apple Glasgow will continue to operate at the same address.

As we know, the protests started after the assassination of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis (United States) have spread around the world. In some countries, statues of controversial historical figures have been torn down. In Glasgow, activists are “renaming” streets with reference to people in some way connected to the slave trade; In this protest, the name Buchanan Street was then “changed” to George Floyd Street – a petition with more than 26,000 signatures wants to permanently change these street names.

Apple – which is not just in the speech and decided to act, investing US $ 100 million in initiatives against racism – anticipated and already tried to change the name of the store.

Italian app for monitoring COVID-19 with good numbers

Finally, we have good news from the Italy in relation to the monitoring of COVID-19. There, as we said at the beginning of the month, the government launched the Immuni, app to track the disease integrated with the API developed by Apple and Google.


Immuni app icon

Available a few days ago, the application has already been downloaded by 25% of the people who had access to it. That’s because the government chose to make it available initially in four regions, with a combined population of 8 million people – the app will only be released to everyone in Italy (population 60 million) at the end of the month.

According to the Reuters, about 2.2 million people downloaded the app, and indications are that privacy concerns are less prevalent than expected – when opening the app for the first time, it addresses the eight privacy protections that the API Apple and Google take this into account.

The Italian government emphasized that using the app is optional, but that each person who chooses to use it makes a difference to win the battle against the new Coronavirus.

via 9to5Mac [1, 2, 3]