Amazon Accused of Massively Underreporting COVID Cases Contracted at Work

In October 2020, Amazon released a report to employees stating that 19,816 of its 1.4 million frontline U.S. employees had tested positive for the virus

The Amazon logo is seen outside its JFK8 distribution center in Staten Island, N.Y., on Nov. 25, 2020. Brendan McDermid/Reuters

By Amanda Breen

At least 20,000 Amazon employees tested postive for COVID-19 last year—and the online retail giant claimed only 27 of those cases were contracted while employees were on the job.

In October 2020, Amazon released a report to employees stating that the 19,816 postive tests were among the 1.4 million frontline U.S. employees of Amazon and Whole Foods.