Earlier this month, Apple shut down all its retail stores outside Greater China in an aim to protect its employees and customers. The stores were expected to be shut till March 27, but Apple later confirmed it will keep its stores closed till further notice.

Now, it seems like Apple may start reopening its retail stores sometime in the first half of April. Bloomberg reports that Apple has started notifying employees that it will reopen its stores outside Greater China on a staggered basis.

Apple closed a total of 458 of its retail stores worldwide.

“For all of our retail stores outside of Greater China, we will reopen our stores on a staggered basis. At this time, we anticipate some stores may be able to open in the first half of April depending on the conditions in their community,” wrote Apple’s Senior Vice President of People and Retail Deirdre O’Brien in an internal memo. “We will provide updates for each store as soon as specific dates are established.”

Apple is also allowing its employees to work from home through at least April 5, and that could be further expanded depending on the situation with coronavirus.

The coronavirus outbreak has obviously gotten worse over the last few days, so it’s kind of surprising to see Apple wanting to reopen the retail stores next month. Still, here’s to hoping things do get better in the coming weeks.

Tagged with Apple, Apple Stores