More than 900 Amazon workers got COVID-19, data shows — as new modelling warns of growing variant infections across essential workplaces
More than 920 Amazon workers in the GTA have contracted COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, the Star has learned - as new provincial modelling shows highly contagious viral variants are disproportionately impacting those with essential jobs.
In neighbourhoods with the largest concentrations of essential workers, these infections are increasing at more than double the rate of communities with the lowest numbers of front-line employees, data presented Thursday shows.
This is really important for thinking about how we make sure that we support people in these communities, (and how) we get vaccination and other initiatives in these communities to support control of the pandemic," Dr. Adalsteinn Brown, of the province's COVID-19 Science Advisory Table, said in a press briefing.
But critics warn provincial restrictions announced Thursday do little to support hard-hit essential sectors, where workers are often low-wage and precariously employed.
It could not be any more clear who is getting COVID and who is dying. It's communities of essential workers, primarily those who are low-income, and coincidentally, the exact same people that don't have paid sick days," said Carolina Jimenez, an organizer with the Decent Work and Health Network.
New measures announced Thursday will close personal care services and restaurants, but do not introduce new restrictions in other industries or implement employer-mandated paid sick days.
The province's scientific modelling draws on a recent study of COVID-19 variants of concern (VOC) and their impact on low-income and essential workers in Toronto and Peel Region.
The research found a 51 per cent growth rate of the variants in neighbourhoods with the highest density of essential workers. Cases here grew at more than double the rate of communities with the lowest concentration of essential workers, according to the study led by McMaster University associate professor of medicine Dr. Zain Chagla and experts at several other academic institutions.
Similarly, the study found COVID-19's third wave - and the growth of VOC cases - are concentrated in lower-income neighbourhoods. These communities' prevention needs remain unmet," the research concludes, especially since lockdown restrictions were in place during the time period studied.
Necessary interventions include outbreak management support for workplaces, safe transit options for essential workers, paid sick days, and vaccines delivered in a care model that takes it right to the worker and their families," Chagla said.
We've seen clear (workplace) outbreaks in a number of places. These individuals go home and spread to others," he added.
In Peel, records obtained through a Freedom of Information request show Amazon had the largest number of COVID cases of any employer in the region as of December. To date, at least 922 of workers in Amazon's Peel-area warehouses have contracted the virus, according to the Star's tally.
The outbreak data, which took three months to obtain under access to information laws, identifies the 20 Peel workplaces with the largest number of outbreak-associated cases between March and December. Three employers were redacted because high attack rates risked identifying individuals who tested positive.
Last year, there was a total of 264 COVID-19 cases at Amazon's Bolton facility, the single largest number in the region. Amazon's Heritage Road facility in Brampton recorded the second highest number - 261 cases.
This March, public health authorities identified a spate of additional cases at the facility, leading to mandatory shift closures. In total, 617 of Heritage Road's 5,000 workers have tested positive since the pandemic began. Amazon's Millcreek Drive warehouse in Mississauga also recorded at least 41 cases last year, the Star's data shows.
Amazon Canada spokesperson Dave Bauer said the company has consistently prioritized worker health and safety and noted that Peel has one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in Canada. Bauer said the positivity rate at Heritage Road is currently less than one per cent, well below the community transmission rate."
As one of the largest employers in the region, we're going beyond most companies to build on our leading safety practices to reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the community. We've tested 100 per cent of our workforce at multiple sites to identify asymptomatic cases, and put in place advanced screening protocols and temperature checks," he said.
Amazon also said in a statement it is one of few employers to conduct multiple rounds of mass testing, leading to higher case counts than other workplaces.
Two TJX distribution centres followed Amazon for the largest number of cases in Peel during the pandemic's first and second wave, with 104 cases at its Brampton facility and 84 at a distribution centre in Mississauga.
TJX is the multinational company operating Winners and HomeSense. Last year, inspectors issued one COVID-19-related order at each of the warehouses in the course of nine field visits, the Ministry of Labour said.
In a statement to the Star, a TJX spokesperson called health and safety the company's top priority" and said it has worked closely with Peel Public Health throughout the pandemic. The company said its distribution centres have numerous health protocols in place" including personal protective equipment, social distancing work practices and daily temperature checks.
Workers who test positive and those in close contact are asked to stay home with pay for previously scheduled hours," the TJX statement said. The company did not respond to the Star's questions about whether all workers have access to paid sick days or what proportion of its workforce is hired through a temp agency.
Canada Post's federally regulated Gateway facility in Mississauga registered 64 cases by the end of 2020, the fifth largest number in the region at the time. Soon after, the facility was forced to close shifts after the outbreak eventually impacted some 300 workers.
The next largest Peel outbreaks occurred at manufacturer Magellan Aerospace (56 cases), Sierra Custom Foods (52), UPS's Caledon sorting facility (33) and industrial bakery Give and Go (33), the data shows.
Only UPS provided comment to the Star by the time of publication; the company said it provides personal protective gear, requires temperature checks before entering its facilities, and modified its warehouses to ensure physical distancing.
Dr. Lawrence Loh, medical officer of health for Peel, said warehouses are large environments where there is an inherent risk, even with precautions, because employees at these locations cannot work remotely and interact every day with employees who are not part of their household."
Common risk factors identified by investigators over the past year include a lack of active screening at workplaces, the need to educate workers on COVID precautions, proper use of face masks and hand hygiene, carpooling, and lack of physical distancing, Loh said.
Loh said Thursday's emergency measures will help limit transmission associated with discretionary activities" but said continued support for essential workplaces needed.
I continue to stress the need for more support for essential workers like paid sick days and more proactive inspections, protections for temporary and agency workers, and where supply permits, prioritization for vaccination and time off and distribution to support these workers accessing this protection," he said.
The Ford government has previously said it will not duplicate the temporary, retroactive federal sickness benefit by enacting paid sick days, although Toronto's medical officer of health has called the federal program inadequate.
Data analysis by the Star shows 65 per cent of GTA workers - more than 2 million people - were considered essential" under previous lockdown guidelines.
Despite clear evidence that marginalized and racialized communities have borne the brunt of the pandemic, Thursday's Science Advisory Table data shows that excluding long-term care, communities with the highest incidence of COVID infections currently have the lowest vaccination rates.
We are not vaccinating more in the highest risk communities," Dr. Brown said. I'm not saying that this is an easy target, but it's an important target to pursue as we try to get vaccines where they will have the greatest impact in our lives."
(There is) a lot of rhetoric around this being a behavioural problem," said Jimenez. But this is a structural problem that requires equity-driven policy solutions."
Sara Mojtehedzadeh is a Toronto-based reporter covering labour-related issues for the Star. Follow her on Twitter: @saramojtehedz