New Jersey officials agreed to pay just under $53 million to the families of residents of the state’s military veterans homes who died in the early stages of the coronavirus pandemic. The settlement will be distributed to the families of 119 residents who lived at the Menlo Park and Paramus Veterans Memorial Homes. An administration official told NJ.com said that each family will receive approximately $445,000, with exact amounts to be determined in future arbitration proceedings. The New Jersey Department of Health has acknowledged that nearly 200 residents at the two facilities, totaling more than one-third of the total patient population, died of COVID-19 complications in 2020. $52,955,000, due to be paid out by July 30, will settle claims that the homes’ managers made “gross departures from the standards of nursing care and infection control,” according to one of the cases filed, including not requiring staffers to wear masks or gloves, and allowing residents being allowed to gather in common areas despite the detection of new infections.