Amazon is putting a hold on its Prime Day marketing event in Canada due to recent COVID-19 outbreaks at its facilities in Ontario’s Peel Region.
According to The Canadian Press, a notice to sellers says the pause was announced to protect the health and safety of employees.
Last week, Peel Public Health directed the partial closure of an Amazon facility in Brampton. Two other Amazon fulfillment centres in Ontario’s Peel Region were told the week prior to shut down partially under a new workplace order. CTV News reported Peel Region’s medical officer of health issued a section 22 order last month that would require the closure of workplaces with five or more recent cases of COVID-19 for 10 days in a bid to stem the spread of the virus.
Amazon Prime Day 2021 will take place in June this year. Despite last year’s version of the annual event being delayed to October due to the global pandemic, the retailer still managed to see a 45.2 per cent increase in global sales compared to 2019.
Several Amazon fulfilment centres are located in the Peel Region, just west of Toronto. Peel Region has one of the highest community COVID-19 positivity rates in the country. Ten of Amazon’s 16 Canadian fulfilment centres are located in Ontario.
Canada isn’t the only country that Amazon is halting its Prime Day event in. The company confirmed to CNBC on May 6 that it’s pausing the two-day discount event India as well, where COVID-19 cases have skyrocketed in recent weeks. Amazon did not offer a rescheduled date for either country.