‘We’re all going to get sick eventually’: Amazon workers are struggling to provide for a nation in quarantine

Last night, speaking from the state’s emergency operations center in Sacramento, California Gov. Gavin Newsom ordered everyone in the state to stay home to slow the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus. Malls, retail stores, and other businesses not considered critical infrastructure were to close in the most sweeping lockdown so far in the US.

That same night, also in Sacramento, an Amazon worker received an automated call telling him that his job at a distribution center was essential, and he should continue to come to...