Apple announced on Dec. 23 that it has temporarily closed at least eight retail stores in the United States and Canada since Dec. 22, as cases of the Omicron variant surged among customers and employees, according to an article from Bloomberg. Apple closed stores in The Gardens Mall in Palm Beach, Dadeland in Miami, Lenox Square in Atlanta, Cumberland Mall in Atlanta, Highland Village in Houston, Summit Mall in Ohio, Pheasant Lane in New Hampshire, and Sainte-Catherine in Montreal. At least eight further stores were recently shut and reopened before the latest round, in Texas, Maryland, Hawaii, Ohio, and Ottawa, while another store at Lincoln Road in Miami Beach remains shut. Apple also temporarily closed a location in Charleston, South Carolina back in August. The store closures typically last a few days each, with such closures becoming increasingly common in recent weeks. The company policy is to close an Apple store when roughly 10 …