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'We're here to help': National Guard troops clean Georgia War Veterans Home

With National Guard troops helping assisted living and nursing homes across the state, some are making their way through Central Georgia.

MILLEDGEVILLE, Ga. — On Tuesday morning, over 20 National Guard troops were sent to Baldwin County.

"Approximately eight of those troops are here for training purposes and the rest are here on a cleaning detail, a decontamination detail," says Georgia War Veterans Home executive director Dennis Mize.

Mize says the National Guard reached out to offer help, and they welcomed the Guard with open arms. "We selected the Wood building for our first building to clean. They started this morning, they were on site about 8 o'clock setting up and actually went into the building and started the cleaning process about 9 o'clock."

A news release from PruittHealth, which runs the Veterans Home, says all 170 veterans and caregivers have been tested for COVID-19. 

Three veterans and three caregivers are presumed positive.

Lt. Colonel John Avera, a commander with the National Guard, says they've spent days preparing to go into these homes and disinfect.

"We're wiping. We're wiping with disinfectant solution and we're wearing our personal protective equipment, making sure we're protecting ourselves, but we're wiping down very well. And then in the common areas, we have a fogging machine," says Avera.

He says the cleaning should take about three days and then they move on to another home.

"We're not here to enforce anything, we're here to help. I can't stress that enough, we're here to help. We have resources, we have people, we're a professional organization," says Avera.

Mize says visitation to the home was cut off almost a month ago.

Avera adds that there are over 300 assisted living and nursing homes in the state. The National Guard is offering help to all of them, but he says it is up to the individual nursing homes to invite them in.

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