Amazon Confirms Two Employees in Italy Have Contracted Coronavirus

Amazon.com said late on Sunday that two employees in Milan, Italy, have contracted the coronavirus and are under quarantine.

"We're supporting the affected employees who were in Milan and are now in quarantine," company spokesman Dan Perlet said.

The world's biggest online retailer said it was unaware of any US employees who had contracted the virus. On Friday, Amazon told employees to stop non-essential travel, within the United States and beyond. The company also confirmed on Sunday it is moving some recruiting interviews to video rather than in person.

The United States on Saturday hiked its travel advisory and urged US citizens not to travel to the Veneto and Lombardy regions of Italy because of the coronavirus outbreak. Milan is the capital of the Lombardy region.

The New York Times reported the Amazon employees contracting the coronavirus earlier on Sunday.

Separately, Samsung Electronics shut one of its mobile device factories in South Korea after a worker tested positive for the coronavirus, the Yonhap news agency reported, citing a company official.

The factory in Gumi, close to Daegu where most of the South Korean virus cases have been confirmed, was temporarily closed last month after an earlier case was discovered.

The floor where the infected employee worked will reopen on Tuesday afternoon, Yonhap said.

© Thomson Reuters 2020