On last week, Amazon released data on COVID-19 infection rates among their warehouse and in-store workers, stating almost 20,000 “front-line” employees has got the COVID-19 disease between 01 March and mid-September from among 1.37 million people who worked either in Amazon distribution facilities or in Whole Foods stores. It is said that during that period, 19,816 or about 1.44% of the workers have had COVID-19.

Amazon wrote “If the rate among Amazon and Whole Foods Market employees were the same as it is for the general population rate, we estimate that we would have seen 33,952 cases among our workforce”. “In reality, 19,816 employees have tested positive or bee presumed positive for COVID-19-which is, 42% lower than the expected number” However, this calculation does not include Prime delivery drivers, whom technically are not Amazon employees.

Amazon shared a state-by-state breakdown showing where infections per 1,000 employees as compared to its projections and as compared to state-level data. For most states, Amazon’s case count is indeed lower than the state-level count. However, in some of the hot spots, West Virginia and Minnesota, Amazon’s infection rate is higher than the projections. The infection rate for Amazon workers is also higher than the state rate in New Hampshire.