Worker at Amazon warehouse in West Columbia tests positive for coronavirus
A worker at one of Amazon’s fulfillment centers in West Columbia has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus, a company spokesman confirmed to The State on Wednesday.
The employee is at home recovering, and Amazon is taking “extreme measures” to ensure the safety of the other workers at that site, company spokesman Timothy Carter said in a statement.
Among those measures, all employees at the site have been alerted to the positive test, and those who came in close contact with the infected employee will be contacted and instructed to self-quarantine at home, Carter said. Those employees will still be paid.
Amazon did not specify what position the infected employee held.
One academic study has shown that the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could live on cardboard for up to 24 hours, but the researchers behind the study cautioned against drawing any firm conclusions from that — and there have been few other studies like it. The CDC has also addressed concerns about packages from China, saying there is a very low risk of the virus surviving on packages over days and weeks in ambient temperatures.
All Amazon employees who contract COVID-19 or quarantine will receive up to two weeks play, Carter said. Extra steps are being taken at every facility to increase cleaning and limit the spread of the virus, he added.
FITS News first reported the positive test in West Columbia, while the Greenville News reported that another Amazon employee at a delivery station in Greenville has tested positive as well.
According to CBS News, workers in at least 11 Amazon facilities across the country have tested positive for COVID-19. The tech giant has declined to say the exact number of workers who have tested positive, and workers at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York, staged a walkout Monday in protest of the site remaining open after an employee tested positive for the virus.
Amid a dramatic economic downturn, Amazon is one of the few major corporations in the U.S. looking to expand its workforce during the pandemic. In the Carolinas alone, the company said in mid-March that it hoped to add 2,500 jobs, according to WBTV, as many stores close and delivery becomes crucial.
In South Carolina, there are more than 4,000 Amazon employees already, including roughly 2,000 in Lexington County, where the online retailer has a one million square foot facility.
The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in South Carolina reached 1,293 on Wednesday, with 26 deaths. Lexington County, where the Amazon fufillment center is located, has reported 61 cases.
This story was originally published April 1, 2020 at 7:28 PM.
