Jeff Bezos calls for regular COVID-19 testing across industries — including Amazon 

Amazon’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic figured prominently in the annual letter to shareholders by company founder and CEO Jeff Bezos.

Bezos called for widespread, regular COVID-19 testing for employees across industries, including his own.

"A next step in protecting our employees might be regular testing of all Amazonians, including those showing no symptoms," he wrote in the letter. "Regular testing on a global scale, across all industries, would both help keep people safe and help get the economy back up and running."

Bezos added that if every person could be tested regularly, it would make “a huge difference in how we fight this virus.” 

"Those who test positive could be quarantined and cared for, and everyone who tests negative could re-enter the economy with confidence,” he said. 

As previously reported, Amazon is developing its own Covid-19 test. It also is building its own lab to facilitate testing. 

“A team of Amazonians—from research scientists and program managers to procurement specialists and software engineers—moved from their normal day jobs onto a dedicated team to work on this initiative,” Bezos wrote. “We have begun assembling the equipment we need to build our first lab and hope to start testing small numbers of our frontline employees soon. We are not sure how far we will get in the relevant timeframe, but we think it's worth trying, and we stand ready to share anything we learn."