AMAZON has said it will start taking daily temperatures of its employees after reports that at least 17 company locations have had employees test positive for the coronavirus.
The retail giant will start begin screening of their employees starting at sites in Seattle and New York City, local news reports.
According to the Seattle Times, Amazon announced in a statement on Sunday that it intends to expand daily temperature screenings to other sites as soon as possible.
Although Amazon have not confirmed how many of their employees have coronavirus, Reuters reported on Saturday that it has spread to at least 17 warehouses in the US.
On Sunday, CNBC reported that Amazon warehouse workers in Staten Island are planning to strike on Monday.
Their hope is that they will call attention to the lack of protection for employees who are still going into work amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
The news comes just one day after Amazon staff said they are struggling to get sick pay and are worried their colleagues are coming to work with coronavirus.
Outbreaks at the company’s warehouses – where “everything has been touched by 1,000 hands” – could help spread the virus, it is feared.
A study revealed that the coronavirus can survive for up to 24 hours on cardboard – which Amazon uses for the majority of its packaging.
One warehouse worker in her 20s from California, who wished to remain anonymous, spoke of fears in an interview with Medium.
She said: “We have work gloves and hand sanitizer but nothing else to protect us from the coronavirus.
“Everything has been touched by 1,000 hands: Hands at the manufacturer, the distributor, the docks, the trucks; hands making up the pallets.
The worker added: “We move fast, and we sweat when we work. The warehouse has no air circulation. One sneeze particle, and it’s just caught inside. What if my whole department, my whole warehouse, gets sick?”
The US coronavirus death toll currently stands at 2,457, with at least 140,990 confirmed cases.
