Community Corner
Nearly Half MA Coronavirus Deaths Come From Long-Term Care Homes
COVID-19 is hitting nursing facilities across the state hard.
BOSTON — Of the 686 deaths across the commonwealth attributed to the new coronavirus Saturday, more than 44 percent have been residents in a long-term care facility.
The increase in cases at long-term care facilities come as the number of veterans to die at the Holyoke Veterans' Home rose to 37, Saturday, and both the attorney general and the U.S district attorney launched investigations into just what happened there.
On Saturday, the total number of people who have tested positive for COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, rose to 22,860, up 2,860 from the day before, according to the state Department of Public Health. Of the more than 22,000 who tested positive for the virus, 2,645 are residents or healthcare workers of long-term care facilities, where the elderly, especially those with underlying health conditions, remain most vulnerable during the new coronavirus pandemic.
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And this is just the beginning, warn officials.
"We are about to have a very difficult couple of weeks here in Massachusetts, and it could be three weeks and it could be four depending upon how this whole thing plays out," Gov. Charlie Baker said Friday.
Find out what's happening in Newtonfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The National Guard has been deployed to the Holyoke Veterans' Home, and to help care facilities in Chelmsford, and at 80 facilities across the commonwealth. There have been several deaths in Longmeadow, 15 were reported dead at a Norwood nursing home and five coronavirus-related deaths in Newton.
On April 7, Baker allocated more than $80 million for Nursing Facilities, including $50 million for all nursing care facilities and another $30 million for units designed specifically for COVID-19 patients.
He also launched a program to allow for on-site testing of residents of long-term care facilities like nursing homes and rest homes. The initiative is being completed as a partnership between the Department of Public Health and the Massachusetts National Guard.
This week the DPH worked to expand the program by providing an option for places to use their on-site medical personnel to collect specimens and send them to the state lab for testing.
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