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Empower Clinics expands testing as COVID-19 spreads in Arizona

Cannabis
CSE:CBDT
03 July 2020 14:30 (EDT)

Empower Clinics (CSE:CBDT) is expanding COVID-19 testing days at its clinics, in order to meet rising demand in Arizona.

Back in late April, the cannabis company began conducting COVID-19 antibody testing at its Sun Valley Health clinics in Phoenix. Empower is now expanding its testing days to five days a week, in response to increasing demand across the state. 

During June 2020, the company conducted 2,130 physician-patient consultations at its clinics. This has set a new historic record for patient volumes for the month of June.

According to the Arizona Department of Health Services, nearly 25,000 positive COVID-19 cases have been reported in the last week. In total, the number of reported COVID-19 cases in Arizona has exceeded 87,000 people. 

Cases from the last week alone represent over 25 per cent of the state’s total reported cases.

Empower Clinics’ CEO, Steve McAuley, commented on the essential service it is currently providing in the midst of the pandemic.

“As a company and a health & wellness clinic operator, we are fortunate to be able to provide care and support to our thousands of patients every month.

“The demand for our services are at an all-time high, requiring us to hire new staff and extend hours of operation. Our team continues to perform with complete professionalism and safety, knowing the importance of the physician consultations we provide,” he said.

In related news, Empower Clinics is also grappling with another unfortunate side-effect of the COVID-19 pandemic. Like countless others, the company is unable to meet the deadline to file its annual filings, due to coronavirus-related disruptions.

Empower attributed this delay to the virus’ impacts, and to additional audit requirements by the company’s auditor, MNP, LLP. The company expects to file the annual filings by no later than July 15, 2020. 

Empower Clinics (CBDT) is up 9.09 per cent and is trading at C$0.06 per share at 11:52am EDT.

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