Amazon will regularly test employees for COVID-19, CEO says

Amazon aims to regularly test all employees for COVID-19 to prevent the spread of the virus, CEO Jeff Bezos wrote in a letter to shareholders.

"Regular testing on a global scale, across all industries, would both help keep people safe and help get the economy back up and running," he wrote. "For this to work, we as a society would need vastly more testing capacity than is currently available. If every person could be tested regularly, it would make a huge difference in how we fight this virus."

Amazon has already created a team, including research scientists, program managers, procurement specialists and software engineers, to focus on expanding its testing capacity. The company is beginning to assemble equipment to build its first lab and aims to start testing a select group of front-line employees soon, he said.

"We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant time frame, but we think it's worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn," wrote Mr. Bezos.

In the last month, Amazon has hired 100,000 employees across its fulfillment and delivery network, and it announced this week that it has 75,000 jobs open with customer demand increasing. Many of the new hires were laid off or furloughed from their former jobs due to the pandemic.

More articles on COVID-19:
Federal plan to reopen states expected today; Vaccine may be ready earlier than thought — 6 COVID-19 updates
27 healthcare execs on Trump's economic revival task force
Amazon opens COVID-19 'data lake' to hospitals