HOLYOKE — Nearly one-third of the residents of the Holyoke Soldiers Home have now contracted the coronavirus in less than three weeks, with six more testing positive on Tuesday.

In addition, the number of staff who have tested positive for the coronavirus has more than doubled in a day, increasing from 31 on Monday to 67 on Tuesday, state officials said.

The latest totals released on Tuesday show 65 residents have now tested positive for the coronavirus and 22 residents have died. Of those who have died, 18 tested positive for the disease, three tests are pending and one is unknown. An additional three residents have died of other causes since the first case of COVID-19 was confirmed on March 21, state officials said.

The remaining 94 residents have tested negative for the virus. An error in reporting had double-counted some of those residents in previous days, officials said.

The six new cases occurred in the past week and after all residents at the home were tested for the virus beginning March 31 after personnel for the state Executive Office of Health and Human Services responded to complaints about the rapidly-spreading virus.

State officials began a review of the problems on March 30. That day, Superintendent Bennett Walsh was put on paid administrative leave and Val Liptak, a registered nurse and CEO of Western Massachusetts Hospital in Westfield, took over the administrative role. Chief Operating Officer Anthony DiStefano is overseeing day-to-day operations of the facility.

The state also formed an onsite clinical command team made up of medical, epidemiological, and operational experts to respond to the outbreak. The National Guard is also assisting.

Walsh has denied any wrong-doing in the management of the facility and said he welcomes the results of an investigation into the handling of the virus that will be conducted out of Gov. Charlie Baker’s office.

About 40 of the residents who initially tested negative have been moved to a unit of Holyoke Medical Center – previously used for labor and delivery – to keep them safe from the rapidly-spreading virus at the Soldiers’ Home. All labor and delivery cases have been transferred to Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, officials said.

Strict quarantine zones have been created at the Soldiers’ Home were put in place to help prevent the disease from spreading from those who are infected to others who do not have it and remain in the Soldiers’ Home, officials said.

Because so many employees have now tested positive for the virus, the state has brought in clinical support from the National Guard and is hiring contracted and per-diem nurses and certified nursing assistants to augment the regular staff, officials said.

Additional contracted housekeeping has also been hired to ensure the home is cleaned frequently, especially in areas where people touch often, to prevent the virus from spreading more, officials said.

On Monday Dan Tsai, deputy secretary of Health and Human Services also visited the Soldiers’ Home and during his visit thanked the staff for their dedication and support, officials said.

Staff are allowed to return to work in seven days after testing positive for COVID-19 if they do not have any symptoms of illness. However they must wear a face mask for 14 days after the start of the illness or until all symptoms are gone, according to new state guidelines.

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