Investigators are watching a string of over two dozen coronavirus-linked deaths and almost 200 COVID-19 positive tests in a state-run veterans' home.

Investigators have launched two separate investigations into the deaths of 28 veterans at the state-run LaSalle Veterans Home in Illinois, Chicago. The deaths started in late October.

The veterans home registered almost 200 COVID-19 positive tests over the past few months, raising concerns about the protocols that the veterans home has been operating on since the pandemic started.

Gov. J.B. Pritzker said Tuesday that the state should "do better" in finding out how over a dozen veterans died and hundreds were infected - including staff - at the facility.

Pritzker noted that should the investigations determine wrongdoing or any sort of failure in implementing proper anti-COVID procedures, accountability should be established,

A key lead was unraveled by investigators during the probe, tracing back events to an off-site Halloween party that could play a major role in investigating how a number of the facility's staff were infected with the novel coronavirus.

Republican lawmakers have since called on cooperation among House members for an upcoming hearing about the outbreak in the facility.

The Illinois Department of Veterans Affairs (IDVA) conducted two separate on-site visits at the LaSalle facility, wherein it was revealed that there were issues in protocols implemented at the home.

The IDVA required immediate change for the LaSalle home's sanitizers from nonalcohol-based to alcohol-based. The organization also required the facility to test residents and staff members twice a week instead of once per week.

During last week's hearing, IDVA chief of staff Anthony Kolbeck revealed that five employees who were notified that they tested COVID-19 positive continued to work at the facility. They worked with residents who were also infected.

Representative David Welter has also recommended a meeting with members of the House Veterans Affairs Committee to determine if the LaSalle home asked for help and was not given adequate assistance during the outbreak.

Last month, University of Chicago health researchers Rebecca Gorges and Tamara Konetzka released data indicating that COVID-19 cases among staff in nursing homes across the United States have been surging.

The data found that weekly cases in surge states in the country ballooned from 855 in late May to 4,050 in the third week of October.

Medical experts noted that asymptomatic staff members are likely to be bringing in the novel coronavirus in nursing home facilities. Furthermore, there is mounting pressure whenever infected staffers show symptoms and noninfected employees have to do all the work.

While there could have been some missteps in implementing protocols in elderly facilities, analysts said the government could have done better in protecting not just the residents but home staffers.