Amazon pauses Prime Day event in Canada amid COVID-19 outbreaks at warehouses

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MISSISSAUGA, Ont. — Amazon is pausing its Prime Day marketing event in Canada this year amid ongoing COVID-19 outbreaks at its facilities in Ontario's Peel Region.

In a notice to sellers obtained by The Canadian Press, Amazon says the pause was put in place to protect the health and safety of employees.

The company says it will monitor the COVID-19 situation in Canada to determine the next steps for the event.

A number of Amazon's major fulfilment centres are located in Peel Region, just west of Toronto, which has one of the highest community COVID-19 positivity rates in the country.

Peel's public health unit has partially closed three Amazon fulfilment centres in the last two weeks under its order to close workplaces with five or more cases of COVID-19.

The company was also ordered to shut a site in Brampton, Ont., in March after an outbreak sickened more than 600 employees.