BOSTON (AP) — Residents of a Massachusetts home for ailing veterans who were moved out in the spring as the coronavirus tore through the facility will soon be welcomed back, officials said.

Michael Lazo, interim administrator of the Holyoke Soldiers' Home, told trustees at a meeting Tuesday that the some veterans will return to the facility on Thursday, with more to follow in the coming weeks, Masslive.com reported.

The Refresh Project is a $6 million initiative to boost infection control standards at the facility.

The virus has been blamed for the deaths in the spring of 76 veterans who lived at the state-run facility, one of the country’s worst outbreaks at a long-term care facility. Another resident who had been moved out of the facility died of the virus last month.

Two former top administrators have pleaded not guilty to criminal negligence charges connected to the deaths.

Tuesday's meeting was the first presided over by new trustees Chair Maj. Gen. Gary Keefe, adjutant general of the Massachusetts National Guard.

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INMATE DEATHS

Two inmates at a Massachusetts medium and minimum security prison that focuses on mental health have recently died of COVID-19 complications, officials say.

The deaths of inmates housed at the Old Colony Correctional Center in Bridgewater occurred Jan. 4 and Jan. 8, a Department of Correction spokesperson told The Enterprise of Brockton.

The deaths were reported to the special master monitoring the status of the coronavirus at the state's prisons. Both were men in their mid-50s and both had been treated at outside hospitals before their deaths, the department said.

At least 18 prisoners held at state facilities and two inmates at county jails have died after contracting the coronavirus, according to the state.

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