The retailer also reportedly takes down thousands of listings from sellers it says were price gouging.
As a novel coronavirus continues to spread globally, Amazon is clamping down on merchants looking to take advantage of people’s fears about the virus.
The online retail giant removed more than 1 million listings for items claiming to cure or defend against the coronavirus, according to a report from Reuters on Thursday. The company also said it removed thousands of items from merchants for price gouging.
“There is no place for price gouging on Amazon,” an Amazon spokeswoman said in a statement to Reuters. The company didn’t immediately respond to CNET’s request for comment.
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The virus was first reported on Dec. 31 in the Chinese city of Wuhan. Since then, more than 83,000 people have been infected, and there have been more than 2,800 deaths. Cases have been reported around the world, with notable outbreaks in countries including Japan, South Korea and Italy.
Researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and the National Institutes of Health produced the first 3D map of the coronavirus earlier this month. This will help in developing a vaccine, which the US National Institutes of Health says is a year or more away.
Facebook is another company putting its foot down on false cures. The social media company said Tuesday it’ll remove ads touting cures for the virus.
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