More than 19,000 Amazon employees have tested positive for coronavirus.
The e-commerce giant had frequently refused to disclose data with the public on the number of confirmed coronavirus cases of its workers. Its workers were weary earlier that Amazon wasn’t taking adequate measures to protect them.
According to CNBC, Amazon disclosed the total number of infections would be “more powerful” if other companies announced similar data. “Wide availability of data would allow us to benchmark our progress and share best practices across businesses and industries,” it said.
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The company did not give any updated statistics on its eight confirmed Amazon worker Covid-19 deaths in its announcement on Thursday.
The aggregate does not include its network of third-party delivery drivers. It claimed that the number of its employees that tested positive was 42% lower than expected, as compared with the general population rate” in the U.S.
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There was a controversy by its workers following the company’s persistence that the rate of infection in its warehouses is lower than what the rates are in surrounding communities. This with reference to an Amazon warehouse in Minnesota, was where infection rates surpassed community levels.
Amazon has said it has taken a variety of steps to prevent the spread of the virus. It has built its own lab with a dedicated squared in Sunnyvale, California, and Hebron, Kentucky. Also, they would be conducting several tests on a daily basis and it expects that to grow to 50,000 tests a day across its 650 facilities In November.
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CNBC had reported Amazon’s goal is to test the mass of its front-line workers every fourteen days. The company earlier said it would invest its expected Q2 profit of $4 billion into its Covid-19 response and will spend $1 billion on testing this year.
