Nintendo has confirmed that their New York store is to be closed for the “foreseeable future” due to the coronavirus outbreak.

The news came via the store’s official Twitter.

“Hello Nintendo NY guests,

In light of recent coronavirus (COVID-19) developments we have made the difficult decision to close Nintendo NY for the foreseeable future, effective immediately.

We will continue to work with health experts and follow their lead, and as soon as we have a date set to reopen, we will notify you. Until then, we encourage you to visit Nintendo.com for all your digital gaming needs and, if you prefer physical goods, we suggest store.nintendo.com or other online retailers. We hope our games and entertainment can bring you a bit of joy in this challenging time.

We care about the health and safety of all of you and our employees, and we appreciate your understanding. We look forward to a time when Nintendo NY can once again be a place that we all gather to celebrate gaming, and we look forward to seeing you again soon.

Sincerely, your friends at Nintendo NY“

This announcement follows only three days after previously reducing store hours due to coronavirus.

The coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) has affected many worldwide, from businesses with offices in China, Japan, and public gatherings and events. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7].

This includes the postponement and cancellation of GDC and E3 2020 respectively. At this time, Gamescom 2020 is still being prepared, with organizers monitoring local regulations and the virus’ spread.

The Johns Hopkins Whiting School of Engineering are mapping the virus’ spread [1, 2]. As of this time of writing, there have been over 194,200 confirmed cases worldwide, and over 7,800 deaths. Over 80,800 people have made a “total recovery.” On March 11th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak “can be categorized as a pandemic.”

Image: Twitter