The number of COVID-19 cases at the Amazon Fulfillment Centre in East Balzac has increased and is now recognized as an official outbreak, according to Alberta’s chief medical officer Dr. Deena Hinshaw.
In her daily briefing May 1, Hinshaw reported there were five confirmed cases at the facility, which employs more than 1,000 workers. The 600,000-square-foot warehouse is located in the Nose Creek Business Park near CrossIron Mills mall.
“Five cases have now been reported at that facility, although it is not yet clear if all five are linked with a common exposure,” Hinshaw said, adding additional measures have since been implemented to contain the spread.
“If there is some kind of a common exposure or risk factor, that [investigation] is still underway. That information will help to pinpoint if there are any other specific risks that need to be addressed or mitigated."
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However, the Calgary Herald reported there were at least nine confirmed cases among staff at the facility as of May 3. The first confirmed case of COVID-19 at the Balzac warehouse was reported in mid-April.
A statement from Amazon spokesperson Timothy Carter said the Seattle-based e-commerce giant is supporting employees who tested positive, following the advice of medical professionals and health experts.
“We…are taking extreme measures to ensure the safety of employees at our site,” Carter said, adding Amazon encourages all employees who don’t feel well to stay home. “We’ve implemented a broad suite of new benefits changes for employees in our operations and logistics network including an additional $2 per hour, [twice the] base pay for overtime, and paid time-off benefits for regular part-time and seasonal employees.”
According to a statement from the company, Amazon will have spent more than $800 million by July 1 on COVID-19 safety measures, such as purchasing millions of masks, thousands of thermal cameras, hand sanitizer, thermometers, sanitizing wipes and gloves. The company has also installed additional handwashing stations and disinfectant spraying in its buildings.
“And, since the early days of this situation, we have worked closely with health authorities to proactively respond, ensuring we continue to serve customers while taking care of our associates and teams,” Carter said.
“We have also implemented proactive measures at our facilities to protect employees, including increased cleaning at all facilities, maintaining social distance in the fulfillment centers, and adding distance between drivers and customers when making deliveries.”
Despite these measures, Amazon has faced some criticism for its handling of the pandemic. According to a report from Business Insider, workers at 10 Amazon warehouses in the United States and Europe had contracted the virus as early as March 25.
On May 1 – known as International Workers Day – a coalition of workers from Amazon, Walmart, Target and other American corporations walked off the job in cities throughout the United States in a strike against what they called unsafe working conditions.
A Vancouver-based vice-president of the tech giant, Tim Bray, resigned May 1, according to a report from Canadian Press.
Bray published a blog post titled "Bye Amazon" on tbray.org. In the post, the former VP claims he “quit in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of COVID-19.”
“Stories surfaced of unrest in Amazon warehouses, workers raising alarms about being uninformed, unprotected, and frightened,“ he wrote. “Official statements claimed every possible safety precaution was being taken. Then, a worker organizing for better safety conditions was fired, and brutally insensitive remarks appeared in leaked executive meeting notes where the focus was on defending Amazon ‘talking points.'”
The Amazon Fulfillment Centre in East Balzac opened in 2018. The warehouse is where items purchased online through Amazon are packaged before being shipped across western Canada. The facility has been allowed to stay open as it is deemed an essential service by the Alberta Government.
According to the Alberta government’s data, the Amazon facility is the fifth outbreak of COVID-19 at industrial workplaces in the province. Other outbreaks have occurred at the Cargill meat processing plant in High River, the Harmony Beef meat packing plant in East Balzac, Purolator in Calgary and the Calgary Refrigerated Warehouse.
Once five or more employees at a workplace test positive, the situation is considered an outbreak.
Scott Strasser, AirdrieToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @scottstrasser19
