HOLYOKE — Amid an apparent reemergence of COVID-19 inside the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home, some 36 employees remained untested for the coronavirus as of Friday evening despite the state’s announcement of “full-house testing.”
Last Monday, a veteran resident once again tested positive, after recovering from the virus earlier this year; he later tested negative at a local hospital.
Also last week, six asymptomatic employees at the Holyoke Soldiers’ Home tested positive for COVID-19 after clinically recovering from the coronavirus disease.
After the veteran resident tested positive, the state announced that it would be testing the entire building for COVID-19. However, in a statement sent to the Gazette on Friday evening, a spokesperson for the state’s Executive Office of Health and Human Services (EOHHS) said that only 328 out of 364 employees — including permanent staff, National Guard staff, clinical agency staff and interim executives — had been swabbed during the testing on Monday and Tuesday.
“The vast majority of staff are being tested, however, if an individual refuses they cannot be forced,” said Brooke Karanovich, the EOHHS spokesperson. Karanovich did not specify which 36 employees were not tested or why they were not tested. “Staff who are not feeling well are instructed to not come to work and if showing any signs of COVID-symptoms, are required to self-quarantine at home, per CDC guidance for health care workers.”
Cory Bombredi, an organizer with SEIU Local 888 — the union representing staffers such as certified nurse assistants and licensed practical nurses at the home — said the positive tests have scared employees.
“Current management in the home is doing everything by the book, everything that they should be doing, and the virus is still getting in there,” Bombredi said.
However, Bombredi said that the union is confused as to why participation in testing has not been 100% and is trying to figure out who might have declined a test and why.
“We need everybody tested,” he said. “The union is strongly encouraging everybody to participate in the test. We need to know, we need a baseline again.”
Karanovich did not respond to questions about why the state has not made testing mandatory at the Soldiers’ Home, where at least 76 people have died of COVID-19 amid one of the worst outbreaks in the country.
A representative from the Massachusetts Nurses Association, which represents registered nurses in the building, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Amid the reemerging cases in the facility, the state has ceased family visitation to the Soldiers’ Home. Visitation could resume by Aug. 11 or sooner, based on COVID-19 test results, the state has said.
In addition to testing, state officials have said that after the veteran resident tested positive, Soldiers’ Home staff began isolating roommates and units, as well as increasing deep cleaning and protective equipment use.
“The Home has been implementing protocols for clinically recovered individuals per the CDC, and will continue to take full precautions for any suspected positive resident,” Karanovich said in a statement last week.
Dusty Christensen can be reached at dchristensen@gazettenet.com.