Amazon requires warehouse workers to wear masks again regardless of vaccination status

After dismantling some of its protective measures earlier this year, Amazon is bringing some of its COVID-19 mandates back in response to the Delta variant.

According to Bloomberg, Amazon's warehouse staff will be expected to mask up again at the start of the work week next Monday. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's most recent guidance urges everyone in "high-transmission areas" indoors to wear a mask, regardless of vaccination status.

The company's announcement doesn't apply to corporate-level employees, however. Amazon spokesperson Kelly Nantel told the media:

"In response to the concerning spread of new Covid-19 variants in the U.S. and guidance from public-health authorities and our own medical experts, we are requiring face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status. We are monitoring the situation closely and will continue to follow local government guidance and work closely with leading medical health care professionals, gathering their advice and recommendations as we go forward to ensure our buildings are optimized for the safety of our teams."

It's specified that Amazon is one of the few corporate giants as of today who have not mandated COVID-19 vaccinations among its staff.

The requirement for vaccinated individuals to mask up again came in late July as the CDC reversed its previous ruling saying that people who got the jab wouldn't be subjected to masking. The change came as a result of concerns over the Delta variant as it sweeps across the United States.

However, this time the results of mask mandates are mixed. In places like Washington, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser was one of the first to reinstate mandatory measures. However, that also made her one of the first to be caught personally violating said rules. Florida has been a major outlier at odds with the Biden administration on this issue. This week a prominent school district in the Republican-led state reversed its own mask mandate decisions, after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis said he'd otherwise withhold funds.