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Starbucks China closes stores over coronavirus concerns

iStock

January 27, 2020

In an effort to stop the spread of the coronavirus, Starbucks China has closed all shops and stopped delivery services in Hubei province this week, which is the country's Lunar New Year holiday and the world's-largest migration period. About 116 million Americans traveled for Christmas and New Year's holidays, for example, while Chinese citizens will take 3 billion trips during the seven-day festival, which started Jan. 24.

Coronavirus, which was first reported last month in Hubei's capital Wuhan, has caused 80 deaths in China. The large family of viruses includes severe acute respiratory syndrome and Middle East respiratory syndrome. A runny nose, cough, sore throat and headache are common symptoms, but the illness can spread before they appear.

Starbucks said this weekend via Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, that it was closing stores due to "health concerns" for its customers and employees. Starbucks has a total of 4,000 stores in China. 

China has reported 2,744 confirmed cases, of which 1,423 cases were in Hubei. Thailand and Hong Kong have confirmed eight cases of the infection, while the United States, Taiwan, Australia and Macau have five each. Singapore, Japan, South Korea and Malaysia have each confirmed four, while France has three; Canada and Vietnam have two and Nepal has one. No deaths have been reported outside of China. 

As of press time, Starbucks had not returned a request for comment.