Amazon worker dies of coronavirus in Illinois
It marks the fourth COVID-19-linked death of an Amazon worker
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Another Amazon warehouse employee has died from the novel coronavirus.
The company confirmed in a statement to FOX Business that the worker, who had been stationed in Amazon’s Waukegan, Illinois, warehouse, also known as MDW8, died April 18.
“We are saddened by the loss of an associate at our site,” the note read. “His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues.”
AMAZON WORKER DIES OF CORONAVIRUS IN NYC
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| AMZN | AMAZON.COM INC. | 202.61 | -8.87 | -4.19% |
The employee, 50, worked as a picker, selecting items from shelves and prepping them for shipping, a report said. While it is not fully clear when or how the worker contracted COVID-19, they were last seen at the facility March 19 and at that point reported no symptoms. Amazon was made aware of the subsequent positive test results March 24.
The MDW8 death marks the fourth confirmed COVID-19-linked death of an Amazon worker, following deaths in Hawthorne, California; Tracy, California and the death of a Staten Island, New York, worker who was stationed at the JFK8 fulfillment center.
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Amazon did not comment on the number of its workers who’ve died from the virus nationwide.
This latest death comes as Amazon faces a battle with protesting workers. It recently fired Christian Smalls, who organized a walkout at JFK8, as well as workers in Minnesota and Pennsylvania who raised concerns about safety procedures. Senior engineer and vice president Tim Bray resigned Monday over the firings of whistleblowers, saying that remaining in that role “would have meant, in effect, signing off on actions I despised.”
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Amazon has, however, rolled out some changes at its facilities to protect workers, including enforcing temperature checks when employees report to work and introducing updates to its warehouse procedures to mandate social distancing.
In it’s its first-quarter earnings report, Amazon said it would spend $4 billion on a robust COVID-19 response.
