Amazon Confirms First Case of Coronavirus Infection of U.S. Warehouse Employee
An Amazon employee at a delivery facility in Queens, New York, examined constructive for coronavirus (COVID-19), the corporate’s first recognized case within the U.S. for a warehouse worker.
Amazon has briefly shut down the Queens warehouse, coming because the e-commerce big has been struggling to fulfill a surge of on-line orders amid the coronavirus outbreak.
“We’re supporting the person who’s now in quarantine,” an Amazon rep stated in an announcement to CNBC. “For the reason that early days of this case, now we have labored intently with native authorities to proactively reply, guaranteeing we proceed to serve clients whereas caring for our associates and we’re following all tips from native officers concerning the operations of our buildings.”
The information was first reported by The Atlantic, which stated Wednesday’s night-shift employees on the Amazon Queens facility discovered of constructive COVID-19 take a look at from different workers. In response to the report, the corporate had not knowledgeable them to not report back to work — which Amazon denied. An organization rep instructed The Atlantic that it has closed the Queens supply station for “further sanitation” and have “despatched associates dwelling with full pay.”
Amazon on Monday stated no less than 5 workers at amenities in Spain and Italy examined constructive for the virus, CNBC reported, whereas two of the e-tailer’s Seattle-area workplace employees are recognized to have contracted COVID-19.
COPYRIGHT_BP: Published on https://bingepost.com/amazon-confirms-first-case-of-coronavirus-infection-of-u-s-warehouse-employee/66750/ by Cecilia Jones on 2020-03-19T11:24:38.000Z
Earlier this week, Amazon instructed suppliers that it’s going to settle for shipments just for important merchandise — like medical provides and home items — to its warehouses within the U.S. and Europe till no less than April 5, to release stock for high-demand merchandise.
The corporate additionally introduced that it’s in search of to rent some 100,000 further full- and part-time employees within the U.S. alone. Amazon is elevating minimal wages by $2 per hour within the U.S. (to $17 per hour) by means of April for all workers, with comparable raises in Canada, the U.Okay., and Europe.
Amazon SVP of operations Dave Clark wrote in a weblog publish that the corporate is taking further steps in its amenities to guard employees from COVID-19 publicity, together with selling “social distancing” in its warehouses and stepping up the frequency and thoroughness of its cleansing procedures.
