Amazon developing own COVID-19 test for workers

Amazon has decided to develop coronovirus tests for its own workers.

CEO Jeff Bezos in his annual letter to shareholders that regular testing for every industry is needed to "both help keep people safe and help get the economy back up and running." He said for that to happen, society needs "vastly more testing capacity" than is currently available. He's assembled a team of Amazon employees from various units to create new tools to test for Covid-19.

He also stated that the company would start small amounts of tests for its employees very soon.

Bezos said in his letter that he's focused on the safety of Amazon's global workforce, despite ongoing criticism that the company is not doing enough and has fired outspoken critics.

Coronavirus cases have been reported at Amazon facilities in Washington, California and New York among others, prompting calls for fulfilment centers to be closed for deep cleaning. Employees have also staged walkouts to protest Amazon's decision to keep warehouses open.

Bezos said that the online retail giant has suspended more than 6,000 seller accounts on its platform from around the world for price gouging on essential items during the pandemic. It has also removed more than 500,000 listings from Amazon's website for price gouging and increased reporting of price gougers to the authorities.

"To accelerate our response to price-gouging incidents, we created a special communication channel for state attorneys general to quickly and easily escalate consumer complaints to us," Bezos said.

It is noteworthy that Amazon has hired around 200,000 new workers to meet the increased demand for household essentials and other goods spurred by demand.

(Source: CNN)

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