Another Amazon Warehouse Worker in Illinois Dies After Coronavirus Diagnosis

It has been reported that another Amazon warehouse worker has died, after being diagnosed with coronavirus. According to CNBC, the 50-year-old employee worked at an Amazon facility in Northeast Illinois, and he passed away on April 18. He leaves behind a wife, five children, and two stepchildren.

"We are saddened by the loss of an associate at our site in Waukegan, Illinois," Amazon spokesperson Lisa Levandowski told CNBC. "His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues." Amazon claimed that it had informed other employees about the man's death, but according to one employee from the facility, who remained anonymous, this is not true. They told CNBC that they spoke with a number of their co-workers and no one knew about the death until recently. The identity of the deceased has been kept private out of respect for his family. This appears to mark the sixth Amazon employee to die after testing positive for coronavirus.

On Wednesday, it was reported that a fifth Amazon worker had died from the virus in New York, according to a report by The Verge. "We are deeply saddened by the loss of an associate at our site in Staten Island, New York. His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues," read a statement from an Amazon spokesperson on the death. This employee's identity was also withheld, but he was reportedly a man in his 60s.

The first reported Amazon employee death came in April, with Business Insider being the first to report it. Again, specifics about the situation were not shared. "We are saddened by the passing of a member of our management team in Hawthorne, California," Amazon spokesperson Kristen Kish, said in a statement to the outlet. "His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues." It was not clear at the time how the employee may have contracted Covid-19, as he had been on-site in early March but was not said to have displayed any symptoms.

In a previous blog post, Amazon stated that they remain committed to providing safe working conditions for all their employees. "Our top concern is ensuring the health and safety of our employees. We made over 150 process updates to help protect employees — from enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures to piloting new efforts like using disinfectant fog in our New York fulfillment center," the company wrote.