Amazon ramps up cleaning and sends home exposed employees as coronavirus spreads to 10 warehouses – The Sun

AMAZON has reportedly ramped up cleaning measures and sent exposed workers home after the killer coronavirus spread to ten of its warehouses.

COVID-19 cases were confirmed in the company's tenth storehouse this week, infecting employees who are scrambling to deliver goods to millions of locked down Americans, reports say.

So far, infected Amazon warehouses include NYC, Shepherdsville in Kentucky, and Jacksonville, Florida, according to The Washington Post.

Elsewhere, cases have reportedly emerged in their Katy facility in Texas, Brownstown, Michigan, and Oklahoma City.

The virus has spread to their Moreno Valley warehouse in California, Joliet, Illinois and Wallingford, Connecticut.

The business – founded by millionaire Jeff Bezos – pressurizes staffers to fulfill orders on the hour and intense quotas, which leaves little time for hand-washing to stave off the deadly disease, the Post reports.

Fast Company also cites Amazon's alleged lack of safety measures, overly ambitious productivity expectations, and failure to adhere to social distancing advice as the pandemic rages on.

"Every time you walk through the door, you’re taking a risk,” said a worker in Staten Island, New York.

“I mean what’s more important, getting people’s things to them or your health?”

Another employee in Texas showed the publication a company text instructing employees to remain 3ft apart, despite the 6ft recommendation from health experts.

But Amazon insisted it had upped cleaning measures, cut its daily "shoulder-to-shoulder" meetings as per experts' social distancing advice, and staggered breaks.

In an open letter to "Amazonians," Bezos emphasized the companies logistics, transportation, supply chain, purchasing, and third party seller processes all changed to stock and deliver essential items.

He revealed they had also purchased "millions of face masks" for 80,000 employees after it emerged the delivery juggernaut would be creating 100,000 new jobs.

As other business shutter across the country to flatten the curve, Amazon is ramping up recruitment.

But this surge has left the company unable to meet the demands of its customers, who have increased their orders during recent weeks as self-isolation and working-from-home rules have looked to combat the spread of coronavirus.

Bezos also raised wages for "hourly workers who are fulfilling orders and delivering to customers during this period of stress and turmoil."

They are also sending screened workers home for a paid 14-day quarantine.

But employees have urged the delivery giant to increase their prevention measures in a petition with over 1,500 signatures after workers in Italy and Spain contracted the disease.

But US senators have weighed in on their work practices, warning that Amazon workers could infect thousands if they become infected on the job.

Presidential hopeful Bernie Sanders along with senators Cory Booker, Sherrod Brown, and Robert Menendez penned a letter to Amazon's boss, expressing their reservations last week.

They noted that infected employees could potentially put “the entire country at risk” as they make their delivery rounds and a response from Bezos is expected by Thursday.

The Sun contacted an Amazon spokesperson for comment on Wednesday.

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