COVID-19 outbreak at Amazon fulfillment center ‘one of the state’s largest in a warehouse setting’

SHAKOPEE, Minn. (KEYC) — State health officials say the Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee has one of the larger coronavirus outbreaks in a warehouse setting.

At least 88 of the approximate 1,000 workers at the Shakopee location have tested positive. Another 99 workers at other Amazon sites in the Twin Cities have also tested positive since COVID-19 arrived in Minnesota.

State officials are reaching out to employers when clusters at workplaces begin to emerge and are providing guidance to mitigate the spread of the disease.

Amazon responded to the claims on Tuesday evening and offered the statement below.

“We utilize a variety of data to closely monitor the safety of our buildings and there is strong evidence that our employees are not proliferating the virus at work—what we see generally is that the overall rate of infection and increase or decrease of total cases is highly correlated to the overall community rate of infection. Over the months of COVID-19, thousands of employees and partners have worked at our Shakopee site and we believe strongly people are not spreading the virus at work given the robust safety measures we’ve put into place.”

Timothy Carter, an Amazon spokesperson, added that 91 of Amazon’s fulfillment centers have passed inspections by state health and safety regulatory agencies since the beginning of March.

Amazon is one of the leading employers in Minnesota, as it employs over 15,000 hourly employees and partners.

Visit Amazon’s official blog for more information on how the company has adapted to the COVID-19 pandemic.