Revere is latest city with nursing home outbreak; Holyoke, Chelsea Soldiers’ homes’ fatality numbers rise
“We are doing everything in our power — and everything medical experts know of at this time — to protect our patients, residents, and employees."
Nursing homes statewide have been hit hard by COVID-19 as the number of positive cases and death toll continue to rise.
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Revere Mayor Brian Arrigo announced Sunday that of 115 new cases reported in the city, nearly all were linked to one private nursing home.
“The National Guard was dispatched to the facility earlier this week to conduct testing of every resident and staff member,” Arrigo said in a news release. “As of Saturday evening, more than half of the residents who had tested positive were asymptomatic.”
The facility, Lighthouse Nursing Care Center, reported that 85 residents and 21 staffers had tested positive, while three of the facility’s residents had died, according to The Boston Globe.
“We are doing everything in our power — and everything medical experts know of at this time — to protect our patients, residents, and employees,” Richard Feifer, the care center’s chief medical officer, told the Globe.
Citywide, Revere had reported 696 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Sunday.
Meanwhile, veteran resident death tolls at the state-run Chelsea and Holyoke Soldiers’ homes continue to rise.
Brooke Karanovich, a spokeswoman for the Executive Office of Health and Human Services, said 16 veteran residents had died at the Chelsea Soldiers’ Home as of Monday.
Of those deaths, 12 individuals had tested positive for COVID-19 and four had tested negative.
Karanovich said in total, 25 veteran residents at the home and 52 staffers have tested positive for the virus, though 206 veteran residents have also tested negative.
The Holyoke Soldiers’ Home reported that 62 veteran residents had died as of Monday — 52 of whom tested positive for COVID-19, eight tested negative, one’s test results are pending, and another’s cause of death remains unknown.
Karanovich said 89 other veteran residents and 81 employees had also tested positive. While 63 veteran residents had tested negative, another 11 were awaiting test results.
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