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Amazon Reports Over 19,000 Employees Were Diagnosed With COVID-19

Amazon workers have become essential workers throughout the quarantine, but the company dropped some alarming metrics.

The shipping giant reported that 19,816 employees were diagnosed with the coronavirus or exhibited symptoms. These stats don’t include third-party couriers.

Amazon did note the infection rate among employees were lower than expected.

The company is currently conducting thousands of coronavirus tests daily, but they said by November they’re going to rev it up and do about 50,000 tests a day in 650 facilities.

This news comes months after employees complained about being overworked and put on the frontline during the pandemic. Considering that Jeff Bezos’ net worth only continues to skyrocket thanks to the stay-at-home order and customer’s demand for online shopping, he can afford to get rapid tests for every single employee.

In other Bezos-related news, he’s opening a tuition-free pre-school for underserved children. It’s spearheaded by his philanthropic arm, Day One Fund.

“This classroom is just the beginning. The @bezosacademy opens its doors on Oct. 19th. This one in Des Moines, WA, is the first of many free preschools that we’ll be opening for underserved children. Extra kudos to the team for figuring out how to make this happen even amidst COVID, and to Wesley Homes for stepping up with the facility,” he wrote in an Instagram announcement about a week ago.

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This classroom is just the beginning. The @bezosacademy opens its doors on Oct. 19th. This one in Des Moines, WA, is the first of many free preschools that we’ll be opening for underserved children. Extra kudos to the team for figuring out how to make this happen even amidst COVID, and to Wesley Homes for stepping up with the facility.

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