Coronavirus: Amazon worker tests positive, forcing New York delivery station to shut down

Amazon workers in New York were sent home after the company’s first confirmed case of a member of staff with coronavirus at a warehouse

Amazon confirmed on Thursday that it would close a warehouse in Queens, New York, after one Amazon associate tested positive for coronavirus.

The case is the first among Amazon’s warehouse employees in the United States. Two Amazon office workers at the firm’s headquarter campus in Seattle had already tested positive for the virus.

On Wednesday evening, workers at the Queens delivery station were sent a text message from a member of a worker’s group that confirmed the positive case, The Atlantic reports.

Amazon told the magazine that it notified all associates about the coronavirus case and warehouse closure.

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that day-shift workers were sent home from the Queens delivery station with full pay. The company said it would be disinfecting the warehouse.

“We are supporting the individual who is now in quarantine,” Amazon said in a statement. “We continue to serve customers while taking care of our associates and we are following all guidelines from local officials about the operations of our buildings.”

The incident comes as the Seattle-based firm introduced additional cleaning and checks across all warehouses. That has not, however, eased concerns of contracting the virus among Amazon employees.

In France, more than 200 employees at a warehouse south of Paris staged a strike, calling for the closure of the delivery centre.

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On March 11, Amazon announced that all employees diagnosed with coronavirus would be entitled to two weeks' of paid sick leave.

The delivery station in Queens, New York, is at least ten times smaller than Amazon’s largest fulfilment centres. With the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus in the US now approaching 10,000, and demand for home deliveries increasing, the world’s largest online retailer is set to face further hurdles.