A 35-YEAR-OLD Amazon boss in Southern California has died from coronavirus after three whistleblowing colleagues were fired for demanding more protection.

Gerard, an operations manager at Amazon's Hawthorne facility in Los Angeles, is the first known employee of Amazon to die from the deadly bug.

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10 The 35-year-old is believed to be the first Amazon employee to die from coronavirus Credit: Facebook

10 Maren Costa, the Amazon employee who was fired for speaking out against the e-commerce giant Credit: Amazon Employees for criminal justice

10 Emily Cunningham who was also fired by Amazon Credit: Twitter

His death comes after an increasing number of health and safety claims were made by employees regarding coronavirus.

Gerard, who was an Air Force veteran, is believed to have passed away on March 31st but it is unknown exactly where the 35-year-old contracted the disease.

The Amazon boss's last day of work was March 9, which until March 20 was vacationing in Mexico.

A week after returning, he began experiencing flu-like symptoms and was admitted to hospital, Amazon confirmed to the DailyMail.com on Tuesday.

He later died on March 31st.

A spokesperson said: "We are saddened by the passing of a member of our management team in Hawthorne, California.

"His family and loved ones are in our thoughts, and we are supporting his fellow colleagues."

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Before Gerard's passing a number of employees had called for safer conditions for those working in the company's warehouses and for its delivery drivers.

On Tuesday it was revealed that three more employees who had spoken out about the company's working conditions had been fired.

On Friday, Maren Costa and Emily Cunningham were fired for what it called "repeat violations of internal policies".

The two workers, who have pushed Amazon in the past to do more on climate change, had recently made public statements questioning Amazon's safety measures.

In statements, Cunningham said she believed Amazon could play a powerful role during the crisis, but to do so, "we have to really listen to the workers who are on the front line, who don´t feel adequately protected."

In her own statement, Costa said: "No company should punish their employees for showing concern for one another, especially during a pandemic!"

10 Gerard with his colleagues at Amazon Credit: Facebook

10 Gerard was an Air Force veteran Credit: Facebook

Regarding Cunningham and Costa, Amazon said, "We support every employee’s right to criticize their employer’s working conditions, but that does not come with blanket immunity against any and all internal policies. We terminated these employees for repeatedly violating internal policies."

In March a walkout was held at Amazon's Staten Island facility that saw up to 50 workers striking.

Chris Smalls who organized the walkout was later fired.

10 Christian Smalls is seen holding a sign outside Amazon's warehouse in Staten Island.

10 Smalls was later fired for blowing the whistle

Amazon claim that Smalls was dismissed on the grounds that he put others at risk by violating his paid quarantine when he joined the demonstration.

It's believed there are at least 74 Amazon facilities with employees who have been infected, according to The Washington Post.

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Amazon has not revealed any figures regarding the number of employees affected by coronavirus but has promised to improve safety for its workers including providing face masks and temperature checks.

In a statement, Amazon said, "We respect the rights of employees to protest and recognize their legal right to do so; however, these rights do not provide blanket immunity against bad actions, particularly those that endanger the health, well-being or safety of their colleagues."

Last Wednesday, CEO Jeff Bezos made a surprise visit to an Amazon fulfillment center in Dallas.

The day after his visit Bloomberg confirmed that the warehouse had reported one positive COVID-19 case.

The infected employee was last at the site on Monday and Amazon said that the facility: "had undergone enhanced cleaning since the associates last day."

10 Jeff visiting an Amazon warehouse last Wednesday Credit: Amazon/Twitter

10 A day later an employee tested positive for the virus Credit: Amazon/Twitter

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