Two employees of a Massachusetts cannabis company have contracted the novel coronavirus, prompting other workers at the firm to criticize its safety measures during the continuing pandemic. State cannabis regulators said on Wednesday that they were “looking into” allegations that New England Treatment Access (NETA) failed to adequately protect its employees, according to a report from the Boston Globe.
NETA has confirmed that two employees, one at a dispensary in Northampton and another at a cultivation and processing facility in Franklin, tested positive for the virus this week. A spokesman said in a statement from the company that the sick worker at the Franklin operation, “whom we will continue to support in every way we can, practiced excellent public health and social responsibility by self-identifying symptoms, notifying their manager upon feeling ill, pursuing COVID-19 testing, taking appropriate hygienic precautions, and self-quarantining.”
The statement added that the Northampton employee had followed the same measures. NETA also said that state and local health officials were notified of the positive test results in accordance with state regulations.
The company said that there was no chance that the Franklin employee had contaminated any cannabis products. NETA also said that it hired a service to perform a deep cleaning of the production facility and that it was adequately protecting the health of its workers, a claim the company said was supported by many employees.
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