An employee at an Amazon warehouse in Chicago's north suburbs died of coronavirus last month, the company has confirmed.
The employee was a 50-year-old man who worked the night shift as a picker, selecting items from the warehouse's shelves and preparing them for shipping, CNBC reported.
He was last at the facility on March 19 with no symptoms, Amazon said. The company was informed on March 24 that he had tested positive for COVID-19 and he died on April 18. He leaves behind a wife, five children and two stepchildren, according to CNBC.
"We are saddened by the loss of an associate at our site in Waukegan, Illinois," Amazon spokeswoman Lisa Levandowski said in a statement. "His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues."
The worker's death marked at least the fourth known case of an Amazon employee who has died of the coronavirus, according to CNBC, which noted reports of one death in New York and two in California.
Illinois health officials announced on Wednesday 136 additional coronavirus deaths and 2,270 new cases of the virus, bringing the state's death toll to 2,974 fatalities with 68,232 total confirmed cases.
