It’s grueling work, but employees say they know it’s important and their global retailer has raked in record profits because of it. But they are terrified it will cost them their own health because, they say, they’re on the frontlines without any protection.

“My biggest concern is people are saying, ‘Where do I get a mask? Where do I get a mask?’ On a daily basis you have people cough in your face or talk when they spit,” a member of the sales team at a Costco in Culver City, California, told BuzzFeed News. “Never did I think that working at Costco would be the same thing as a first responder. We’re fucking ground zero.”…

In private Facebook groups and chats, workers across the country are sharing stories of unprecedented door counts and questioning why their stores have not limited how many people enter at a time.