Apple Inc. said Monday that many of its retail staff in the U.S. should stay at home as COVID-19 cases spike, according to a report by Bloomberg.

The company closed many of its retail stores in the U.S. and across the world during the last few months out of an “abundance of caution.” Retail staff were told to work from home, as were office staff who also are not expected to return to their place of work until the end of the year. Apple had hoped to bring workers back more quickly, but the surge in cases has quashed that idea.

Since the recent spike of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., Apple has closed more than 90 of its 271 U.S. stores, as well as stores in both the U.K. and Australia. Those outlets that have been able to remain open ask that staff take regular temperature checks and also wear face masks.

In a video to staff that was acquired by Bloomberg, Deirdre O’Brien, Apple’s senior vice president of retail and people, told workers that they would have to use the phone to assist customers with support and purchases.

“If your store is closed, please sign up for Retail at Home, please talk to your manager, because we really need to make sure that we shift our teams to greet our customers remotely in this time,” she said in the video. “We may need to be working remotely for some period of time.”

She added that customers were presently experiencing long wait times, which is not what Apple wants. “We really want to make sure that we are moving to where our customers are, to help them during this very challenging time. As you know people are really dependent upon their devices, especially right now,” she said.

The company will now start sending COVID-19 test kits to the homes of staff, while those who are not working remotely will wear lanyards emblazoned with a customized Memoji. The virtual avatar, said Apple, will help customers to know whom they are speaking to, given that staff will be wearing masks.

Photo: Niels Epting/Flickr