Coronavirus

Amazon confirms ‘additional’ COVID-19 cases at a Lexington facility

More Amazon employees at a Lexington facility have tested positive for COVID-19, the company confirmed.

Employees at the LEX2 Amazon Fulfillment Center at 172 Trade Street received a text message on Thursday night that two more employees had tested positive for the virus.

According to the text message, which was obtained by the Herald-Leader, the employees’ last days at work were March 31 and April 3. Other employees who may have been in close contact are being notified by the company, the message stated.

The additional cases come days after a company spokesperson confirmed that an employee at the LEX2 facility had tested positive for the virus.

“We are supporting the individuals who are recovering,” said Alyssa Bronikowski, an Amazon spokesperson, in an email on Friday. “We are following guidelines from health officials and medical experts, and are taking extreme measures to ensure the safety of employees at our site.”

Bronikowski said Amazon employees “are heroes fighting for their communities and helping people get critical items they need in this crisis.”

The first employee to test positive was last at the LEX2 site on March 20, according to a voicemail, obtained by the Herald-Leader, to workers at the LEX1 Amazon Fulfillment Center on Mercer Road.

All employees who worked closely with the first infected employee were notified and asked to self-quarantine for 14 days, the company confirmed at the time.

The company previously instituted temperature checks on employees and has spaced out workers to follow social distancing guidelines.

“We are encouraging those who are unwell to stay home and taking extreme measures to keep people safe in our buildings,” Bronikowski said.

This story was originally published April 10, 2020 at 11:07 AM.

Rick Childress
Lexington Herald-Leader
Rick Childress covers Eastern Kentucky for the Herald-Leader. The Lexington native and University of Kentucky graduate first joined the paper in 2016 as an agate desk clerk in the sports section and in 2020 covered higher education during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. He spent much of 2021 covering news and sports for the Klamath Falls Herald and News in rural southern Oregon before returning to Kentucky in 2022.
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