Coronavirus News: First Known Amazon Worker Dies From COVID-19

An Amazon (AMZN) warehouse worker has reportedly died from the coronavirus.

The worker was an operations manager from the company’s Hawthorne, California, facility and is the first known Amazon employee to die from COVID-19, Business Insider reported. The employee reportedly died on March 31.

The death of the employee was confirmed by an Amazon spokesperson to the news outlet, who said, “We are saddened by the passing of a member of our management team in Hawthorne, California. His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues.”

It was unclear at the time of writing how the worker contracted the coronavirus. He reportedly worked at the Amazon facility up until March 6, when he went on vacation until March 20. According to Business Insider, when he returned to the U.S., he started to experience symptoms and was then hospitalized.

Amazon has come under fire for the safety at its warehouses as employees work to meet high customer demand during the coronavirus. As many as 74 Amazon facilities have employees that tested positive for COVID-19, The Washington Post reported.

Amazon said it is providing face masks to warehouse workers and is taking temperature checks as well as introducing other safety measures. Hourly pay for workers has also been increased through April as the company looks to hire 75,000 new employees after recently bringing on 100,000 new workers to its warehouses.

Shares of Amazon stock were up 1.13% as of market close on Wednesday.