COVID-19 accidental death benefit claim first of its kind

The widow of a Cambridge Public Schools custodian who died from COVID-19 is pursuing an accidental workers’ comp death benefit claim from Massachusetts benefits officials, in what is the first such claim in the state, according to Cambridge Day. The claim now goes before a panel of the Public Employee Retirement Administration Commission and must show that the custodian was infected at the school where he worked. Co-workers who survived COVID received workers compensation benefits for temporary disability, the widow’s attorney says.