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Amazon says over 19,800 employees contracted coronavirus

A truck outside an Amazon warehouse in Staten Island, N.Y., in March. Photo: Angela Weiss/AFP via Getty Images

Amazon recorded 19,816 presumed or confirmed COVID-19 cases across its roughly 1.37 million Amazon and Whole Foods Market front-line employees in the U.S. between March 1 and Sept. 19, according to data released by the company on Thursday.

What they're saying: The company said its rate of infection among employees was lower than expected, noting "we've introduced or changed over 150 processes to ensure the health and safety of our teams," per the statement.

  • The changes include "distributing over 100 million face masks, implementing temperature checks at sites around the world, mandating enhanced cleaning procedures at all of our sites, and introducing extensive social distancing measures to reduce the risk for our employees," the company said.

Context: The data comes after labor groups, lawmakers, regulators and Amazon employees pressed the company for transparency on how many of its workers were infected.

By the numbers: Amazon noted it's conducting thousands of coronavirus tests daily and hopes to expand to 50,000 tests per day across 650 facilities by November.

  • The retailer said the rate of infection among employees was 42% lower than the “general population rate” in the U.S., adding that if the infection rates were the same, its total number of cases would have reached 33,952.

Go deeper

Oriana Gonzalez
Jan 8, 2021 - Health

Biden to release nearly all available COVID-19 vaccine doses to the public

Photo: Joshua Roberts/Getty Images

President-elect Joe Biden plans to release nearly all available coronavirus vaccine doses when he takes office, CNN reports.

Why it matters: Releasing nearly all doses would allow more people to get vaccinated with at least one dose. At the moment, the Trump administration is withholding half of U.S. vaccine production to ensure recipients receive their second dose, which is required by both the Moderna and Pfizer shots to ensure 95% efficacy.

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Jonathan Swan
1 hour ago - Politics & Policy

Scoop: Gina Haspel threatened to resign over plan to install Kash Patel as CIA deputy

CIA Director Gina Haspel. Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images

CIA Director Gina Haspel threatened to resign in early December after President Trump cooked up a hasty plan to install loyalist Kash Patel, a former aide to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), as her deputy, according to three senior administration officials with direct knowledge of the matter.

Why it matters: The revelation stunned national security officials and almost blew up the leadership of the world's most powerful spy agency. Only a series of coincidences — and last minute interventions from Vice President Mike Pence and White House counsel Pat Cipollone — stopped it.

Go deeper (3 min. read)Arrow
Axios
Updated 3 hours ago - Politics & Policy

Coronavirus dashboard

Illustration: Sarah Grillo/Axios

  1. Health: Coronavirus deaths reach 4,000 per day as hospitals remain in crisis mode — CDC warns highly transmissible coronavirus variant could become dominant in U.S. in March.
  2. Politics: Biden says, "We will manage the hell out of" vaccine distribution — Biden taps ex-FDA chief to lead Operation Warp Speed amid rollout of COVID plan — Widow of GOP congressman-elect who died of COVID-19 will run to fill his seat.
  3. Vaccine: Battling Black mistrust of the vaccines — "Pharmacy deserts" could become vaccine deserts — Instacart to give $25 to shoppers who get vaccine.
  4. Economy: Unemployment filings explode again — Fed chair: No interest rate hike coming any time soon —  Inflation rose more than expected in December.
  5. World: WHO team arrives in China to investigate pandemic origins.
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