Amazon says almost 20,000 of its workers have tested positive or been presumed positive for the virus that causes COVID-19.
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But the online retail behemoth, revealing the data for the first time, said the infection rate of its employees was well below that seen in the general US population.
Amazon said in a corporate blog on Thursday that it examined data from March 1 to September 19 on 1.37 million workers at Amazon and Whole Foods Market across the US
It said it compared the COVID-19 case rates to the general population, as reported by Johns Hopkins University for the same period.
Based on that analysis, if the rate among Amazon and Whole Foods employees were the same as that for the general population, it estimated it would have seen 33,952 cases among its workforce - 42 per cent higher that Amazon's actual rate.
The Seattle-based company also said it is conducting thousands of tests a day, which will grow to 50,000 tests a day across 650 sites by November.
Australian Associated Press
