Workers turn into amateur sleuths to track virus cases

Katie Doan, seen here on July 16 in Costa Mesa, California, started tracking Covid-19 cases at Amazon-owned Whole Foods in April. — Ashley Landis/AP

NEW YORK: Jana Jumpp spends eight hours a day updating a spreadsheet – not for work, but a recent hobby: figuring out how many of Amazon’s 400,000 warehouse workers have fallen sick with the coronavirus.

Amazon won’t give a number, so Jumpp tracks it on her own and shares what she finds with others. She relies on Amazon employees at more than 250 facilities who call, text or send her Facebook messages with possible cases. She asks for proof, like messages or voicemails from Amazon, and tries to make sure she doesn’t count the same case twice.