Peel Public Health has ordered Amazon Canada to shut down a fulfillment centre in Brampton, Ontario and have all employees self-isolate for 14 days due to a persistent outbreak of COVID-19, a decision the retail giant says it plans to appeal.
According to a new report from CP24, all workers at the facility are required to self-isolate until March 27, unless “they have tested positive in the last 90 days and completed their isolation period as directed by public health.”
The health unit said it has been working closely with Amazon to contain the outbreak, which began in October and has since been linked to more than 600 cases with nearly half emerging in the last few weeks. The closure would also allow for the company to pursue “additional operational changes” the health unit has recommended in order to avoid future outbreaks.
“This is really about trying to make sure that we control spread in our community,” Dr. Lawrence Loh, Peel’s medical officer of health, said in an interview.
“We had noticed a concerning trend in our ongoing outbreak investigation and that’s why we’ve taken this step now to protect our community and to protect the workers in that workplace.”
An outbreak began in October and has since been linked to more than 600 cases — nearly half of those have emerged in the last few weeks, Loh said.
The health unit felt the need to issue the isolation order as it became clear the outbreak was growing significantly, Loh said.
“There’s evidence that those cases are actually spreading outside the contained clusters that have been previously identified,” he said.
