CHELMSFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - The Massachusetts National Guard will be sent to a nursing home in Chelmsford on Tuesday to conduct widespread coronavirus testing, Police Chief James M. Spinney announced.
The decision to deploy the National Guard was made after “numerous” residents at the Palm Center nursing home at 40 Parkhurst Road tested positive for COVID-19, according to the Chelmsford Health Department.
The deployment is being conducted out of an abundance of caution and does not suggest a wider danger in Chelmsford as a whole, officials stressed.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is unprecedented in its scale and spread,” Chief Spinney said. “We are fortunate to have great partnerships and excellent chains of communication among municipal first responders, our Chelmsford health department, state health officials and administrators at the Palm Center. The health and safety of our most vulnerable residents comes first for everyone.”
The National Guard was dispatched to a Littleton senior living facility on Friday after five residents died from coronavirus complications.
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