'I feared for my safety': Amazon confirms coronavirus exposure at Washington, DC-area warehouse after worker speaks out

Amazon delivery driver

Amazon told employees in a voicemail on Thursday that a person who had been inside the warehouse in Springfield, Virginia, had subsequently been diagnosed with COVID-19, a source told Business Insider.
The company confirmed the incident in a statement to Business Insider, saying it was "supporting the individual, who is recovering."
Earlier on Thursday, the company told employees at another warehouse in Jeffersonville, Indiana, that a person with COVID-19 had been in the building on March 26. Business Insider previously reported that an image from that facility appeared to show some ignoring social-distancing guidelines.
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Employees at an Amazon warehouse outside Washington, DC, were told Thursday that a person infected with the novel coronavirus was inside the building on March 31, a source told Business Insider.

The company has confirmed the incident. "We are supporting the individual, who is recovering," Amazon spokesperson Timothy Carter told Business Insider.

In a recorded phone call on April 2, the online retailer informed workers at its fulfillment center in Springfield, Virginia, just outside the nation's capital, that someone who had been in the building earlier in the week had subsequently been diagnosed with COVID-19.

A person who received the message said that they felt conditions inside the warehouse were conducive to the spread of the virus.

"I feared for my safety," the source told Business Insider, requesting anonymity. "So many people [were] not being good about complying with physical distancing."

The Virginia location was not the only Amazon facility to report a positive test of COVID-19 on Thursday. Earlier in the day, the company informed employees at a warehouse in Jeffersonville, Indiana, that someone last in the building on March 26 was later found to have been infected.

The Los Angeles Times reported Thursday evening that Amazon had, in the last 24 hours, confirmed four additional infections at warehouses in Southern California.

Amazon has declined to reveal just how many facilities, in total, have reported positive test results among workers. However, there have been reports of COVID-19 cases at no less than 30 company facilities nationwide.

While Amazon has implemented a number of measures to promote health and safety during the pandemic, Business Insider reported Wednesday that managers at the Indiana location appeared to be failing to heed the stated policy of requiring employees to remain at least six feet apart.

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