Amazon has its first confirmed case of the coronavirus in one of the company’s U.S. warehouses.
“We’re writing to let you know that a positive case of the coronavirus (COVID-19) was found at our facility today,” said a text message to workers at a warehouse in Queens, New York, on Wednesday night, according to the Atlantic.
The company’s hourly warehouse employees in the United States make up the majority of Amazon’s 600,000-strong workforce.
According to the text message, management sent home day shift workers so the facility could be cleaned. But at least one worker said he had not been informed of the closure by management and instead heard about it through other employees. The employee, Jonathan Bailey, said workers believed they were still expected to show up for their night shifts. However, Amazon denied that workers were expected to work the night shift.
“We are supporting the individual who is now in quarantine,” Rena Lunak, an Amazon spokesperson, said. “In addition to our enhanced daily deep cleaning, we’ve temporarily closed the Queens delivery station for additional sanitation and have sent associates home with full pay.”
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On March 11, Amazon said that employees who were diagnosed with the COVID-19 disease or were in quarantine would receive two weeks of sick pay. The company also said it would give hourly workers unlimited unpaid time off through the end of March.
The incident comes as demand grows for Amazon to provide basic goods amid the pandemic. The company announced earlier this week that it plans to hire 100,000 more warehouse workers to help meet the surge in delivery demand and would increase U.S. warehouse workers’ hourly pay by $2.
Amazon has kept its facilities open in Europe, even as workers at the warehouses have been infected with the virus.
