As many as 5,000 workers at an Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) fulfillment centre in Brampton, Ontario have been sent home and ordered to self-isolate following a massive COVID-19 outbreak.
Peel Region's public health unit said in a statement that every person working at the Amazon warehouse might have had high-risk exposure to COVID-19. "We had noticed a concerning trend in our ongoing outbreak investigation and that's why we've taken this step now to protect our community and to protect the workers in that workplace," reads the statement.
The public health unit said it had ordered Amazon to immediately suspend all shifts at its 8050 Heritage Road site in Brampton and have employees self-isolate for two weeks. The Amazon fulfillment centre employs approximately 5,000 workers.
A COVID-19 outbreak actually began in October and has since been linked to more than 600 infections, nearly half of which have emerged in the last few weeks. The health unit said it felt the need to issue the isolation order as it became clear the outbreak was growing significantly.
Several of the recent infections have involved more contagious variants of COVID-19, although those are not believed to be a key driver of transmission. Amazon has been working directly with the public health unit to address the outbreak. However, COVID-19 cases in the warehouse were rising even as Peel's overall community case rate was declining.
The suspension of all shifts at the facility will allow Amazon time to consider operational changes that may prevent future outbreaks, the health unit said. Employees must isolate until March 27 unless they've tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 90 days and completed their isolation period for that infection.
Tech Insider
