Amazon says warehouse and logistics employees will need to wear a mask starting Monday.- The announcement follows yesterday's push-back of the company's planned return of office employees.
- Employers across the US are changing plans as the COVID-19 delta variant spreads.
Amazon frontline workers in the company's warehouse and logistics divisions will have to wear masks to work starting Monday.
"In response to the concerning spread of new COVID-19 variants in the U.S. and guidance from public health authorities and our own medical experts, we are requiring face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status," Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told Insider.
"We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical healthcare professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams," Nantel added.
The announcement comes a day after the company told corporate and tech workers they would not be returning regularly to the office in September as originally planned. Those plans have been pushed to January.
At the office, unvaccinated employees are required to wear masks, while verified fully vaccinated staff are allowed to work maskless in the office. Nantel confirmed the new policy only applies to frontline workers.
The latest guidance from the Centers for Disease Control shows that the agency recommends wearing a mask indoors in nearly 2,800 out of the 3,006 counties in the US, regardless of vaccination status.