In a blog post on Thursday, Amazon reported that 19,816 of their front-line workers have tested positive or been “presumed positive for COVID-19.” Despite the startling number, the company argues that it is less than the 33,952 cases it predicted based on the country’s infection rate.
“Based on this analysis, if the rate among Amazon and Whole Foods Market employees were the same as it is for the general population rate, we estimate that we would have seen 33,952 cases among our workforce. In reality, 19,816 employees have tested positive or been presumed positive for COVID-19—42% lower than the expected number,” the company wrote.
Also, the company shared its total workforce numbers. According to the company, they employ nearly 1.4 million people across Amazon and Whole Foods. Moving forward, Amazon says that it will continue to regularly screen its employees and increase testing across the company.
“Amazon employees are regularly screened for symptoms and are increasingly being tested at work, regardless of whether they are showing symptoms, in order to identify asymptomatic cases,” the company adds.
The announcement comes at a pivotal time in the country’s battle against the virus. Just last week, the country passed the 200,000 death toll. This week, President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the virus. As fall nears, COVID-19 outbreaks have emerged in portions of the midwest and the death toll could rise to 250,000 before the end of the year.
