Amazon Says Almost 20,000 Workers Had Covid-19 in 6 Months
- Disclosure follows criticism from employees, outside groups
- Amazon says the rate of infection is lower than expected
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Amazon.com Inc. said almost 20,000 U.S. employees have tested positive for Covid-19 during a time period of a little over six months, a disclosure that follows criticism from some lawmakers and employees that the world’s largest online retailer was too secretive about outbreaks within its ranks.
The retailer said in a blog post Thursday that 19,816 workers tested positive for the respiratory disease, or were presumed positive, out of 1,372,000 U.S. front-line employees who worked for the company from March 1 to Sept. 19, an infection rate of 1.44%. The company said that if its employees contracted the virus at a rate equal to that of the general population, Amazon would have seen 33,952 cases.