Amazon Shutters New Jersey Warehouse Over Spike In Asymptomatic COVID-19 Cases

Amazon.com Inc AMZN has closed a warehouse in New Jersey after it noticed an escalation in the number of asymptomatic cases of COVID-19, CNBC reported Sunday. 

What Happened: The Jeff Bezos-led company will keep the Robbinsville Township, New Jersey, facility — also known as PNE5 — shuttered, at least until Saturday.

“We detected an increase in the number of asymptomatic positive cases at our PNE5 facility in northern New Jersey and have proactively closed the site until December 26th out of an abundance of caution,” Amazon spokesperson Lisa Levandowski told CNBC.

Levandowski reportedly did not provide the details of total cases at the facility.

Why It Matters: In October, Amazon disclosed that nearly 20,000 of its workers had contracted COVID-19 between March 1 and Sept. 19 in the United States.

The data was reportedly released due to the joint efforts of its warehouse workers as the company had been resistant to release the information previously.

Over the weekend, another tech giant Apple Inc AAPL shut the entirety of its 53 retail stores in California due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases.

As of press time, there are 17.84 million cases of COVID-19 reported in the United States with 317,667 deaths, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.

Price Action: Amazon shares closed 1.06% lower at $3,201.65 and gained almost 0.9% in the after-hours session. 

Related Link: Amazon Workers' Lawsuit Alleging Lack Of Safety Against COVID-19 Dismissed By Court