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11 Veterans Die At Holyoke Soldiers' Home After Coronavirus Outbreak

Holyoke Soldiers' Home
WAMC
Holyoke Soldiers Home

     Eleven residents of the state-owned Holyoke Soldiers’ Home have died amid an outbreak of Covid-19 at the long-term care facility for veterans in western Massachusetts.

    Of those who died, five tested positive for Covid-19.  Five test results are pending.

    Another 11 residents and five staff members have been infected, tests confirmed.

    The state announced late Monday evening that the superintendent of the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, Bennett Walsh, had been placed on leave.  

    Officials said a team of experts has been brought in to respond to the outbreak and set up protocols for isolating the sick, quarantining people who may have been exposed to the virus and cleaning the building.

   News of the deaths have shaken many people.  Gov. Charlie Baker tweeted Monday Night that he was “heartbroken” and added, “The loss of these residents to Covid-19 is a shuddering loss for us all.”

   WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill spoke this morning with Steven Connor, the director of Central Hampshire Veterans Services.

The record-setting tenure of Springfield Mayor Domenic Sarno. The 2011 tornado and its recovery that remade the largest city in Western Massachusetts. The fallout from the deadly COVID outbreak at the Holyoke Soldiers Home. Those are just a few of the thousands and thousands of stories WAMC’s Pioneer Valley Bureau Chief Paul Tuthill has covered for WAMC in his nearly 17 years with the station.
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