Amazon has just informed its workers that the company will finally be ending its on-site COVID-19 testing taking place at its US warehouses. This comes as vaccination has started to ramp up and about 48% of the country is already reportedly making an effort to fight the virus.
Amazon Stops Worker Testing
The story was first reported by The Informant. According to the story, although there might have been a lot of people that have reportedly been vaccinated, the change reportedly comes as case rates around the entire country are reportedly going up, according to The New York Times.
Another article by The New York Times puts the data at 48%. This is the percentage of how many people within the country are already fully vaccinated, accordinf to The New York Times.
CBSNews also reports that the significantly major cases have reportedly been found amongst those people that remain unvaccinated.
Amazon on Public Testing
The company has reportedly confirmed with The Verge that they plan to ramp down its testing in the United States by the start of July 30, 2021. Amazon told its staff that it had officially planned to end its COVID-19 testing, according to the report by The Information.
The message stated that free COVID-19 is currently widely available for the company's employees and there have been many options that are available to them. It was noted that these were included through health providers as well as public testing sites as well. The company has also offered a $300 bonus to those that worked during the entirety of December, 2021.
50,000 Tests Handled in a Single Day
The company reportedly had instituted an enormous testing operation noting back in October, 2021 that they had planned to be able to handle a whopping 50,000 tests in a single day across the span of 650 sites by their target in November, 2021. As of May 19, 2021, the company no longer requires its fully vaccinated warehouse workers to use masks unless otherwise it is officially mandated by local laws, according to CNBC.
Although the company has not actually required their warehouse workers to be vaccinated, it is reportedly encouraging it by offering their workers bonuses going up to $80 for those that get their vaccines.Workers a a number of warehouses, however, walked out early during the pandemic in order to protest the company's reported handling of the virus within its facilities.
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Amazon Public Issues
According to CNN, sometimes, a number of Amazon workers left right away when they found out that their colleagues had actually tested positive for the supposed virus. In June, 2021, the company started selling home COVID-19 testing kits at the price of $39.99 making testing more affordable for the public. This issue only adds to other issues like the peeing in a bottle issue for Amazon employees.
Amazon will reportedly resume its employee testing program if ever there is a change in guidance coming from either the local or the national public health officials. This was according to the company's statements to The Verge.
Related Article: Apple Employees Might Quit Their Job if the Company Denies Remote Work Requests As COVID-19 Vaccination Rolls Out
This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian B.
