Amazon has started building COVID-19 testing capacity for all employees; stock rallies toward another record

Amazon.com Inc. said Thursday that it's working toward "regular" testing for all of its employees for the COVID-19 virus, including those who aren't showing any symptoms.

Chief Executive Jeff Bezos said in a letter to shareholders that the company has started work on building testing capacity.

"We have be begun assembling the equipment we need to build our first lab and hope to start testing small numbers of our frontline employees soon," Bezos wrote.

"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."

Separately, The Wall Street Journal reported Amazon will cancel Mother's Day and Father's Day promotions on its website, among other steps the e-commerce giant is taking to reduce stress on its network amid a surge in orders for essential items needed to ride out the COVID-19 pandemic.

The stock rose 1.3% in premarket trading.

It has run up 36.6% over the past month to close Wednesday at a record high, while the S&P 500 has gained 16.7% over the same time.

This article originally appeared on MarketWatch.

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