Five-hundred members of the National Guard are being deployed today to hospitals in Massachusetts.
They will help operationally with a sharp increase of people hospitalized with coronavirus.
Hospitals in the western part of the state getting help include all four in the Baystate Health network, Berkshire Medical Center, Cooley Dickinson in Northampton and Holyoke Medical Center.
The guard members will work in non-medical roles such as security, patient transport and food services.
There has been no indication as to how long the call up will last.
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