WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Swedish furniture retailer Ikea has temporarily shut down all of its stores across China due to concern about the deadly coronavirus outbreak.
The furniture store will 'temporarily close' its dozens of brick-and-mortar stores in mainland China starting Thursday, a spokeswoman for Ikea China said in a statement.
'We will pay close attention to the epidemic situation, and the stores will be closed until further notice,' she said. Meanwhile, Ikea's online shopping service will continue to operate.
Ikea has 30 stores across China, including one in Wuhan, where the coronavirus outbreak started.
The coronavirus outbreak has killed 170 people and sickened more than 7,000 people in China so far, with dozens more confirmed cases in countries such as Canada, Japan and Australia.
Restaurants such as McDonald's (MCD), Starbucks (SBUX) and Yum China-owned (YUMC) KFC and Pizza Hut have closed thousands of stores across the country. Electric car maker Tesla's (TSLA) brand new Shanghai factory has halted production due to a government-ordered shutdown. Apple has closed three of its China stores.
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