Amazon delays Prime Day in Canada, India due to COVID-19

Amazon will postpone its annual Prime Day event in Canada and India due to both countries’ worsening COVID-19 situation.

CNBC reported the decision, noting that Amazon confirmed it would pause the two-day sale in both countries. However, Amazon didn’t share a rescheduled date for either country. MobileSyrup has also confirmed Amazon will pause Prime Day in Canada.

Beyond Canada and India, Amazon’s Prime Day will go on. Shoppers in the U.S., U.K., Germany, France, Spain, China and more will be able to take part when Prime Day kicks off in June. The e-commerce giant confirmed plans to hold Prime Day in June in its Q1 earnings report.

India reported a sharp increase in COVID cases over the last month, and the country accounts for 46 percent of new COVID cases globally in the past week, according to CNBC. Moreover, India surpassed 20 million reported cases of COVID-19 this week and reports indicate the country’s crematoriums and burial grounds are overwhelmed with bodies.

Although the situation in Canada isn’t as bad, several provinces are struggling under high case counts. CBC News reports that Nova Scotia reported another daily high of cases on Thursday. Manitoba also reported its highest daily case number in months on Thursday: 363 new cases and four deaths.

Ontario and Alberta are among the hardest hit, reporting thousands of daily cases. In both provinces, inept leadership largely ignored advice from scientists and health officials, which has contributed to rising case counts. In particular, Ontario’s PC Party continues to blame travel for increasing case numbers despite data showing travel accounted for just over one percent of infections, with the majority of new infections coming from community spread.

It’s worth noting Amazon delayed Prime Day in 2020 due to the pandemic. Instead of taking place in July as usual, Prime Day happened in mid-October.

Source: CNBC