Tewksbury Coronavirus: Army Deployed To Tewksbury Hospital

TEWKSBURY, MA — The United States Army deployed a medical task force to Tewksbury Hospital, a military spokesman confirmed. An Army Reserve Urban Augmentation Medical Task Force of 85 medical soldiers was sent to the hospital.

The task force will be "fully operational" on or about Wednesday, the spokesman said.

The Boston Globe reported Thursday that more than 100 people — 67 patients and 46 staff — tested positive for the new coronavirus at the 370-bed hospital.

The Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces are a new type of unit formed from Army Reserve soldiers in response to the coronavirus outbreak. Fifteen teams, totaling than 1,200 medical soldiers of a variety of specialties, have been deployed around the country. The teams are designed to help at hospitals and other medical facilities short on staff.

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According to the town's most recent update on Wednesday, 168 Tewksbury residents have tested positive for the virus and 22 have recovered. That includes residents of the hospital.

As of Monday there are over 39,000 cases in Massachusetts.

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Christopher Huffaker can be reached at 412-265-8353 or chris.huffaker@patch.com.

An earlier version of this story misstated the number of Army Reserve medical soldiers on the Urban Augmentation Medical Task Forces. It has been corrected.