Apple Doubles Up on Donations to Virus-affected Communities

On February 20, Apple CEO Tim Cook posted on China’s Twitter-like Weibo that Apple would double the amount of donations to support both the emergency medical response and long-term recovery of virus-affected communities in China. Apple has slowly began reopening their operations in China.

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“As we welcome back employees and customers, and work alongside our manufacturing partners to resume operations as safely and steadily as possible, we are holding fast to our commitment to the many communities we’re a part of in China,” Cook wrote in his post.

“Apple is contributing to their efforts by doubling our donation to support immediate relief work as well as longer-term communitywide recovery. We are with you.”

Previously, on January 25, Cook posted on Weibo that Apple would make donations to relevant organizations to help people affected by the coronavirus, but did not disclose the specific donation amount.

Many foreign companies were forced to suspended operations in their Chinese factories. Apple’s supplier Foxconn is among them, which severely impacted the global supply of iPhones. On February 1, Apple announced on the company’s official website in China that, considering the recent public health situation, the tech giant was closing all its retail locations in China until 24:00 on February 9.

As of February 20, only 15 Apple stores in China have resumed operations under reduced hours from 11:00 to 18:00. The stores require all customers to wear a mask and measure their temperature before entering.