Feds To Aid Vets In Mass. Nursing Homes Hit Hard By Coronavirus

Federal officials will provide aid to veterans at Massachusetts nursing homes that have been hard hit in the coronavirus pandemic.

U.S. Secretary of Veterans Affairs Robert Wilkie said Sunday at a White House briefing that the federal Department of Veterans Affairs will provide the assistance at two nursing homes.

A spokeswoman for the department said Monday that at the direction of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, one team of VA nurses and certified nursing assistants has been deployed to the Hunt Nursing Home in Danvers and another team has been deployed to the Charlwell Nursing Home in Norwood.

A total of 12 VA staffers have been deployed.

More than 20 residents have died at the Holyoke Soldiers' Home in recent days in one of the deadliest outbreaks of the virus in a veteran's home in the nation.

State health officials have confirmed 17 of the residents died from COVID-19 and nearly 60 other residents and 20 staffers have tested positive.

The superintendent of the state-run facility failed to disclose the deaths for days and has been replaced by Gov. Charlie Baker's administration, which has also brought in the state National Guard and launched an investigation into the deaths.

Three residents also died at the Chelsea Solider's Home. Fourteen residents and seven staff members have also tested positive.

The two facilities are state-run and licensed by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.