Amazon plans to let some of its employees work from home until the middle of next year.
“Employees with work that can effectively be done from home can continue to do that work from home through June 30, 2021,” an Amazon spokesperson said Tuesday night.
Amazon currently allows office workers to come to work, and the company said it invested significant resources in changing the structure of its office space to allow for physical distancing. It also deep-cleans its offices, facilitates temperature checks and provides face masks and hand sanitizer for employees.
Amazon continues to “to prioritize the health of our employees and follow local government guidance,” the spokesperson said.
Earlier this month, Amazon said 19,816 of its front-line US employees at Amazon and Whole Foods had tested positive or been presumed positive for the coronavirus. That was the first time the company shed light on the total number of confirmed coronavirus cases at its warehouses. Amazon had repeatedly resisted sharing that comprehensive data with the public and with its own workers.
Amazon warehouses have become crucial hubs for household supplies during the pandemic. Despite numerous confirmed cases at warehouses across the country and the world, the e-commerce company has downplayed the significance of releasing site or aggregate data, making it difficult to get a clear picture of overall infections at its sites.
