Breaking news: GameStop was apparently not ready for this news to get the attention it deserved. Stores are closed:

GameStop has told its employees that they should continue to come to work and keep their stores open, as they are "essential" to society during the worst viral pandemic in decades.

According to IGN, GameStop employees claim that store managers and company executives have ordered them to keep working despite the current crisis, which has forced many companies (including Apple) to close their retail stores due to safety concerns.

The magazine confirmed this policy with the company, claiming that it is "essential products" like "webcams, microphones, mice, keyboards, monitors, chargers, and audio equipment" to support those working from home in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.

This report was made after Kotaku published the following excerpt from a company memo:

According to Kotaku, the company has gone so far as to instruct store managers on what to do if local authorities demand that the store be closed in accordance with a formal order

"Despite our classification, we have received reports that local authorities have visited stores in an attempt to force them to close. The store manager is authorized to provide law enforcement with the documents linked below if necessary."

In response to these reports and the flood of bad press the company has received, GameStop sent a memo to its stores stating, "We are closing our California stores."

Kotaku broke the news, "We will continue to close until further notice from the California Governor's Office to obtain more information. " including the rest of the memo; it is unclear whether GameStop considers the other stores to be essential to the public good.

For GameStop executives, it doesn't matter that the world is shutting down while coronavirus cases are surging everywhere and will continue to explode in the US unless people keep a proper social distance and stay indoors. Alternatively, the death spiral shows no signs of slowing down outside of China, Japan, and South Korea.

When interviewed by IGN, a GameStop employee said, "GameStop is putting their employees at risk of COVID-19. They have not closed their stores or offered paid leave. They are still pushing their employees to promote events that draw large crowds at their stores."

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Since these policies came to light, the store has stopped late-night releases of big titles like Doom Eternal and Animal Crossing: but continues to sell games and other non-essential items.

What is essential, however, is for GameStop to protect the people who work in its stores. The only way to do this is to close the stores.