Coronavirus response: National Guard activated in Massachusetts to add manpower for growing crisis
The
Massachusetts National Guard is activating up to 2,000 members to
assist the state in its response to the coronavirus, an official
confirmed Thursday.
The activation takes effect Thursday, said Don Veitch, public information officer of the Massachusetts National Guard.
Veitch
said he didn’t know exactly what the guardsmen will assist the state
with, where their efforts will be concentrated or how many of the 2,000
will be called upon at first. Veitch said he expects to learn more about
the assignment Friday.
National
Guard members will be tasked with helping state agencies with
equipment, logistics, warehousing and related duties, Gov. Charlie Baker
said in a statement Thursday afternoon. He said the move will bolster
the supply chain to help the state fight the outbreak.
“Activating
the National Guard will help support our administration’s efforts to
keep residents safe and secure during the COVID-19 outbreak,” said
Baker, a Republican. “The expertise of the Massachusetts National Guard
will benefit our communities with logistical support and other
assistance as we continue to respond to this crisis.”
Municipalities
and state agencies should submit requests for support to the
Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency, Baker said.
An
activation of the Guard does not mean the state is in lockdown, but
rather it is a response to the growing need for manpower across the
state as the virus continues to spread.
The
Massachusetts National Guard, which has 8,200 members, has previously
assisted the state with other emergencies, including the response to the
Merrimack Valley explosions that displaced hundreds and winter storms
that wreaked havoc in Boston in 2015. The guard members were also called
to assist the state with the response to the Cape Cod tornado in July
that left tens of thousands without power.
More
than two dozen states have activated assistance from guardsmen,
according to the U.S. Department of Defense. The chief of the National
Guard Bureau said earlier Thursday that altogether, 2,050 soldiers and
airmen had been activated nationwide, separate from those expected to be
activated in Massachusetts.
Massachusetts is now up to 328 coronavirus cases, according to the state Department of Public Health.
After
the outbreaks were declared a pandemic by the World Health
Organization, Massachusetts officials took steps to reduce crowds across
the state. Baker banned crowds of 25 or more people Sunday in one of
several executive orders issued in response to the global public health
crisis.
Health
care workers have sounded the alarm about the shortage of testing
supplies, gloves, face masks and other equipment for weeks.
Donna Kelly-Williams, a nurse and the president of the Massachusetts Nurses Association, sent a letter to Baker Wednesday
warning that tests were not widely available and that facilities have
recommended that nurses reuse Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)
without taking the proper safety requirements because they do not have
enough supplies.
“Nurses
continue to be concerned about capacity to treat the potential influx
of individuals with COVID-19,” Kelly-Williams wrote. “After years of
closures of beds, units and hospitals, and reductions in frontline
health care staff, hospitals lack the space and staff to deal with an
unprecedented outbreak of this highly contagious virus. This puts
patients, health care workers, and the general public at risk.”
Some drive-up sites have launched
to test patients who have symptoms and were in contact with someone who
has coronavirus or who traveled to a country severely affected by the
outbreak, but they often require appointments and a doctor’s note. The
association called for more drive-up testing throughout the state.
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