Massachusetts officials race to contain coronavirus outbreak at Holyoke Soldiers’ Home

The state is racing to contain a coronavirus outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home that turned deadly last week and spread unbeknownst to both the governor and the city’s mayor — plunging families into mourning and leaving plenty more scrambling for answers.

Thirteen veterans had died as of Tuesday afternoon. Six of them tested positive for COVID-19, one tested negative, five are pending results and one is unknown, state officials said.

“It’s so scary. It’s horrible,” said Kimberly Ryan, of West Springfield, whose 86-year-old grandfather, Walter Downing, lives at the home.

State officials said Tuesday another 10 veterans and seven staff members at the state-run facility have tested positive for the virus, with 25 more veterans’ results pending.

The home’s superintendent, Bennett Walsh, has been placed on paid administrative leave and did not return a call for comment Tuesday. Val Liptak, a registered nurse and chief executive officer of Western Massachusetts Hospital, has taken the helm.

The state has implemented a clinical command team and sent members of the National Guard to expedite testing of all residents and staff at the center, which includes a more than 200-bed facility and a separate 30-bed dormitory.

“This episode is a gut-wrenching loss that is nothing short of devastating,” Gov. Charlie Baker said Tuesday, pledging to “get to the bottom of what happened and when and by who.”

Baker and state Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders said they did not learn of the deaths until Sunday. Sudders said the cases were not reported to her department.

Holyoke Mayor Alex Morse said he did not learn of the growing number of cases until Friday. He was unable to reach Walsh until Sunday, at which point he was “shocked” to learn that eight veterans had died since Wednesday.

Morse said he then alerted Secretary of Veterans’ Services Francisco Urena, who deferred comment to a spokesperson Tuesday. Morse said he left both calls “disappointed in the lack of urgency or action” and then notified the Baker administration.

The state has set up a hotline for family members to call to check in on loved ones. But Ryan said her family struggled for answers until learning Tuesday that her grandfather had been tested for the virus.

“He’s got to be wondering where everybody is, why nobody’s visiting him,” Ryan said of Downing, who is blind and deaf.

Anna Pouliot and her family are still waiting for information about two of her grandparents, 93-year-old Charles Constantilos and 98-year-old Hector Page.

“It’s been absolutely horrible. Our entire family has not been contacted by the soldiers’ home once,” Pouliot said. “All these elders are at such high risk for coronavirus.”

Neither woman described past problems with the facility. But a 2017 state audit said the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home failed to show proof that it had conducted required dormitory and housekeeping inspections.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/33YGE57