More than 80 Amazon workers in a single warehouse tested positive for coronavirus over two months in one of Minnesota's biggest COVID-19 outbreaks

An Amazon warehouse in Minnesota was the site of 'one of the biggest' coronavirus outbreaks in the state, the regional health department said on Tuesday.

In 70 days the Shakopee site, which employees around 1,000 people, saw 88 cases - meaning that one in 12 workers contracted the virus.

The cases were reported from April 4 to June 14, with most occurring between late April and mid-May.

Kris Ehresmann, director of infectious disease for the Minnesota Health Department, said Amazon's warehouse had been identified as a source of a cluster of cases.  

'We certainly have seen more cases in some other worksites, but Amazon is one of the largest outbreaks in a warehouse or distribution plant,' she said.

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The Amazon fulfillment center in Shakopee, pictured, has had 88 cases of COVID in 70 days

'Anytime we have a situation in which a worksite is a critical workforce and they're in a position where they don't have the luxury of working from home, or working in a cubicle you tend to see a greater likelihood of transmission.'

The risk to customers who purchase items from Amazon is low, she said. 

While transmission through surfaces is possible, it is not the primary way the virus spreads. 

And some studies have shown that cardboard is not often good 'at keeping the virus viable,' she said. 

At least nine Amazon employees are known to have died from the disease, according to a tally of media reports. The company has refused to confirm how many of their workers have been infected or died.

Three workers employed at warehouses across California died; two from facilities in Indiana; and two from locations in New York. One worker from Ohio and one from Illinois are also known to have died. 

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Coronavirus cases in the U.S. are now at more than 2.3 million, according to Wednesday's data

More than 130 Amazon warehouses have had confirmed coronavirus cases, according to the worker advocacy groups that have helped organize Amazon employees. 

In addition to the 88 in Shakopee, 99 worked at other Amazon sites across Minnesota, meaning a total of 187 coronavirus cases confirmed among Amazon workers throughout Minnesota, according to the Minnesota Department of Health.

A total of 22 worked at Amazon's warehouse in Eagan, 14 in Brooklyn Park, and five in Maple Grove. The other 58 Amazon workers did not specify a location, leaving it unclear where they work.  

No Amazon workers in Minnesota have died, but 11 have been hospitalized. 

Suleman Ahmed told NBC he is convinced he got the coronavirus from working at the Shakopee fulfillment center, since he has worked around many other workers who have been sick. 

He started feeling sick in late April and tested positive for COVID-19 a week later. 

He thinks Amazon should have closed to help slow the spread.

'It's affected me a lot — I'm still struggling,' he said, noting that he hasn't yet returned to work because he still has stomach issues. 

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Amazon workers in Hawthorne, California, protest about conditions on May 1

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An employee at a Staten Island facility demanded better conditions on March 30

Jamal Omer, expressed his concerns about warehouse conditions to his manager before he tested positive last month.

'Every single day I was worried,' Omer told NBC. 'I've complained many times.'

His wife, two of his children and his 75-year-old mother-in-law also tested positive. 

Timothy Carter, a spokesman for Amazon, said Shakopee has 'robust safety measures' in place and the company does not believe infections are being spread at the workplace. 

Amazon requires workers to wear face masks and takes temperatures of workers, and the company says it has spent more than $800 million in the first half of 2020 on COVID-19 related improvements for hourly employees and partners, including raising wages by $2 an hour through May 16. 

Amazon has said it began deep cleaning high-touch areas, such as elevator buttons, door handles and handrails, in late February and early March. 

Masks were made available and required of all workers starting April 15 and a couple weeks later started a process of disinfectant spraying called 'fogging' in its warehouses, the company said 

'We utilize a variety of data to closely monitor the safety of our buildings and there is strong evidence that our employees are not proliferating the virus at work,' he said.

'What we see generally is that the overall rate of infection and increase or decrease of total cases is highly correlated to the overall community rate of infection. 

'Over the months of COVID-19, thousands of employees and partners have worked at our Shakopee site and we believe strongly people are not spreading the virus at work given the robust safety measures we've put into place.'

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Protesters in New York called for better conditions outside an Amazon center on May 1

William Stolz, a worker at the Shakopee site, told the Star Tribune that the new data from his work place was 'really scary'.  

Amazon alerts workers via text messages when there are confirmed cases at their worksite. 

But workers have complained that the company does not say how many people are involved.  

'All we have to go on is some vague text messages they send every few days that say there are new cases plural,' he said. 'But we have no idea if that's two or 10.'

The Seattle-based company has faced months of criticism for its handling of the pandemic. 

The coronavirus tally for Wednesday

On April 21 more than 350 workers from about warehouses across the country signed a pledge vowing not to work that week, saying Amazon's measures to protect them against the coronavirus or provide them with paid sick leave had fallen short.

On May 1 handfuls of protesters walked from their work stations in protest at coronavirus conditions.

And on May 4 a senior engineer at the company, based in Vancouver, quit in protest at Amazon's handling of employee concerns.

Tim Bray, a vice president with the company's cloud-computing division, said in a post on his personal blog that he resigned 'in dismay at Amazon firing whistleblowers who were making noise about warehouse employees frightened of COVID-19.' 

The decision will likely cost him more than $1 million in loss of salary and unvested Amazon stock - 'not to mention the best job I ever had,' he said.

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Statistics from Wednesday show how the number of COVID-19 cases has risen

Minnesota is roughly 'mid table' for virus cases, with 33,469 positive tests and 1,393 deaths, according to the state's COVID dashboard.

It is the 20th worst affected state. 

Across the U.S. more than 2.3 million cases have been confirmed, and 121,000 deaths.

New York was by far the hardest-hit state, with 393,855 cases and 30,970 deaths.

Minnesota's food processing plants have been sources of clusters. 

Eleven workers at the United Natural Foods warehouse in Hopkins, which employs nearly 900 people, have tested positive, the health department said on Tuesday. 

In May a meatpacking plant in Cold Spring saw 194 cases.  

And an architectural glass factory in Owatonna had 132 workers test positive. 

Viracon closed down for a deep-cleaning for two days last month.     

The nine Amazon employees who have died from coronavirus across the United States 

At least nine Amazon employees have died from the coronavirus across the US. 

George Leigh (pictured), an Amazon sort associate and learning ambassador, was the sixth employee to die of COVID-19

One employee was confirmed to have died in Indiana, having worked at the SDF8 facility in Jeffersonville. 

The unnamed employee last worked on April 1 but was later diagnosed with COVID-19 on April 25, WLKY reports. 

Amazon said that it was not notified of the man's condition until May 11. The company then alerted staff via text message, which is current protocol.   

An employee at the company's fulfillment center in Tracy, California, died from the virus and was confirmed by Amazon on April 30. 

That employee had last worked on April 1 but it was not clear on when he contracted the virus, KNTV reports.      

George Leigh, 59, died of coronavirus on April 9 in Long Island after he reportedly began to feel ill in late March. 

An unnamed employee, 50, worked the night shift as a picker at the online retail giant's facility in Waukegan, Illinois. He died on April 18, leaving behind his wife, five children and two stepchildren. 

Gerard Tuzara, an Air Force veteran, became the first known Amazon warehouse worker to die from the coronavirus on March 31

An Amazon worker at a warehouse in Staten Island, New York - where employees called for greater coronavirus safety measures - died of COVID-19 after contracting the virus last month.

The company said the employee was last onsite on April 5 and was confirmed to have the virus on April 11 as he remained in quarantine. Contact tracing revealed no link to other employees.  

Gerard Tuzara, an Air Force veteran, became the first known Amazon warehouse worker to die from the coronavirus on March 31. 

The 35-year-old worked as an operations manager at Amazon's Hawthorne facility near LAX airport in Southern California. 

Tuzara's last day of work was March 6 after which point he was on vacation in Mexico until March 20.

An eighth female employee worked at Amazon's packing plant in North Randall, Ohio. She was diagnosed on April 30, which was the last day she was at work.

The company learned about her diagnosis on May 8 and she died on May 18.

Harry Sentoso became the ninth employee to die from coronavirus-related complications. 

He passed away on April 12 after working at an Irvine, California, warehouse for just two weeks.