Amazon has announced it is raising overtime pay for warehouse staff to tackle an increasing number of orders due to coronavirus.
The world's largest online retailer is increasing the pay for hourly workers in the USA by 15% to meet the rapidly growing demand from consumers stuck at home.
Hourly workers at the warehouses will receive double pay for overtime, up from the 1.5-times rate, from March 15 to May 9.
The company said in a statement: "All hourly associates working in the US Ops network will
receive double their regular hourly rate for every overtime hour worked in a workweek.
"This temporary increased overtime pay is effective March 15, 2020 and will continue through May 9, 2020."
More than a fifth of Americans have been told to stay at home as US health officials issued warnings about the spread of Covid-19, CNN reports.
Public gatherings have been banned as the number of confirmed cases has jumped to more than 18,000.
New York has become a hub of the crisis, with at least 5,683 cases and 43 deaths in New York City alone, The New York Times.
Dr Deborah Birx, the White House coronavirus task force response coordinator, told CNN yesterday that the US may have tested about 170,000 people so far.
She added she expects numbers to rise sharply over the coming days as labs run more tests.
Vice President Mike Pence said that tens of thousands of tests are being performed every day.
The number of confirmed coronavirus cases globally has risen over 290,000, with over 11,000 deaths reported.
