It is a tragedy that the Republican push against basic lifesaving science has cut lives short and continues to do so. However, they were added to the Covid statistics due to having received a positive test within 28 days of their death. They were administrators and maintenance workers. Shirley Duggan (Brantley County School District). Ron DeSantis barring schools from requiring that students wear face coverings and leaving that decision to their parents. Were it not for the health benefits, Aime Gotreaux says she would have already resigned from her job as a special education teacher in Kennesaw, Georgia. Six of those teachers and staff members have died since Aug. 17, in just over 30 days. The list includes support staff and retirees as well as teachers. The start of the new school. Its a pretty tragic thing to be happening in our country right now.. Teachers in at least five states have died from COVID-19 since the fall semester started, The Washington Post reported Thursday . Woolfs work suggests that over the decades, state policy decisions on health issues such as Medicaid, gun legislation, tobacco taxes, and, indeed, vaccines have likely had a stronger impact on state health trajectories than other factors. All three worked at elementary schools and . Following her passing, Hollis husband shared the following post on Facebook: We are heartbroken. COVID They were teachers and coaches. The fact that her husband, also an educator, is still recovering from Covid-19 doesnt help. Both closed on March 13, 2020 and were the last in the state to reopen in October. The Republican Party is unquestionably complicit in the premature deaths of many of its own supporters, a phenomenon that may be without precedent in the history of both American democracy and virology. Just as Florida has historically served as a testing ground for the gutting of public education, so too is it serving as a testing ground for the homicidal back-to-work and back-to-school policies of the Republicans and Democrats, who are both promoting a herd immunity policy among Florida educators, parents, students and the broader working class. A recent study found that from October 2020 to February 2021, the death rate in Republican-leaning counties was up to three times higher than that of Democratic-leaning counties, likely because of differences in masking and social distancing. He died Aug. 9, according to his obituary. It is the first time in two months since the delta variant-fueled wave started June 18 that weekly cases have . As Republican-led states pushed back on lockdowns, the impact on population death rates was observed within weeks, Woolf said. Hare, who is 43, said she knows how seriously the couple took the pandemic, but it still cost her coworkers husband his life. STAY UPDATED:Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories. Our deepest condolences are going out to the family and friends of former Ribault Trojans head coach Lin Shell. There were questions as to how students would cope with these massive changes and how many would develop mental and emotional health issues with an impact on their personal well-being and academic progress. The right-wing media have leaned even harder into vaccine skepticism. Meanwhile, the number of vaccines available across Florida has been limited, with some educators driving long distances chasing rumors that vaccines are available. Loved to travel. Shirley Duggan, 77, died of COVID-19 Aug. 15, according to the Brantley County School District. More than 15 Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia teachers and staff members have died of COVID-19 since July, Action News Jax has learned. Experts say that education programs -- long devalued on and off many . "The whole excitement of going back was just running through our teachers when we went back to work on Wednesday," Fusco told NPR by phone Saturday. Although they can't show it. 2. DeSantis announced Tuesday that Florida will be expanding its vaccinations at CVS pharmacies to more than 150 locations. She loved going to church and spending time with her five sons, 11 grandchildren and several great-grandchildren. Terrazas, who lives with his mother, grandparents and sisters, said he worried about putting his family members at risk. Carvalho said that while the district is blocked by law from requiring employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or even asking whether they are vaccinated, he is urging people to get the shot. 24 educators and family members have died of COVID-19 as of Monday. Shell played college football at Jacksonville University and spent several years in the Canadian Football League. There were 254,412 childhood Covid infections at the end of July, but the state added 146,604 from July 30 to Sept. 2. A fleet of Broward County School Buses are parked in a lot on July 21, 2020, in Pembroke Pines, Fla. Three county educators have died of complications from the coronavirus. Two teachers and a teaching assistant in Florida's Broward County died from COVID-19 within a span of 24 hours, the Broward Teachers Union said Thursday. Over 21,000 students and staff have had to quarantine. The weekly number of new cases related to public and private K-12 schools over the past two months has ranged from 2,191 to 4,854. Jamie Morris, 40, was a 7th-grade teacher at Pierce County Middle School and a father of three. Her sister described Harrington to Action News Jax as the kindest person shes ever known. 5. Gotreaux said she was on the fence about it until she heard that the superintendent and some board members at a school board meeting refused a request to put on a mask in honor of one of the fallen teachers. hide caption. Though some teachers fear being back in classrooms while the virus is still raging in their communities, other leaders argue that the educational toll on students and the stress on families are more urgent concerns. Our entire school community is deeply saddened by this unexpected loss, and we send our condolences to his family.. Philadelphias plan to return on February 22 could also face uncertainty if the teachers union isnt on board. Workers in essential industries had nearly twice the death rate as those with "non-essential" positions. Theres pressure from state leaders, too. 03 Mar 2023 21:43:25 The hospitals chief of pediatric critical care, Michael Gayle, said most of those patients also suffered from underlying medical conditions such as obesity. Terrazas knows there are no easy answers, and that parents and students are struggling too. Thirteen school employees from Miami-Dade County Public Schools have died from Covid-19 since August 16, the school district and local teacher union told CNN on Tuesday. Broward Superintendent Robert Runcie told NBC 6 in South Florida, I wouldve opened schools earlier for face-to-face instruction but thats Monday morning quarterbacking in hindsight., Along with Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho, Runcie falsely claims that their reopening has been safe and successful. None of them were vaccinated, Fusco said. A student arrives for the first day of classes on Aug. 23 at a public school in Miami Lakes, Fla. "This sad statistic underscores the impact of misinformation and disinformation efforts through some vocal entities, who quite frankly profess anything but scientific reality," Carvalho said. In Browns view, schools in his state have engaged in very heroic efforts to make things work, reducing class sizes, arranging food delivery for students in need and disinfecting and sanitizing buildings. The University of South Florida shocked faculty members with its recent decision to close its College of Education, which has a large undergraduate population, and retain only a graduate program. Over the course of one week, Broward County three educators two teachers and one teaching assistant are reported to. RT @MollyJongFast: How many people died of wokeness because millions of people have died of COVID . Pushaw noted an Aug. 27 White House briefing that included comments by CDC Director Rochelle Walensky, who said nationwide hospitalization rates for children are on par with previous surges. Had friends wherever she went. She had earned a masters degree in business administration, but chose a career in education instead, with her brother commenting, She loved kids and wanted them to feel special. The state now has seen 17 deaths, and American Academy of Pediatrics Florida President Lisa Gwynn said many of them may have had underlying medical conditions when they became infected. Three teachers in Broward County, Fla. died of COVID-19 within 24 hours this week, the head of the teacher's union clarified Friday. Unfortunately, this trend shows no signs of breaking. The delta variant-driven COVID-19 surge made August one of the worst months of the entire pandemic. We are very happy to see that pediatric hospitalizations are not, in fact, increasing, Pushaw said. Overall, 31 workers in 100,000 died of COVID in 2020. Discovery Company. She does care about her students. Arlington Middle Principal Shawn Platts sent a message to students and families. Three teachers in Florida's second-largest school district have died from Covid-19 within two days of each other, union officials say. Still, educators there are finding ways to make their voices heard. We know that unvaccinated Americans are more likely to be Republican, that Republicans in positions of power led the movement against COVID vaccination, and that hundreds of thousands of unvaccinated Americans have died preventable deaths from the disease. How many Florida teachers died of Covid-19 this past week? At least 13 employees of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools have died from complications of COVID-19 since Aug. 16, according to district officials. A likely explanation, the authors write, could be that in the post-vaccine era, those leaders chose policies and conveyed public-health messages that made their constituents more likely to die. When youre responsible for the education of 5.4 million children across the state, there are sometimes going to be decisions that not everyones happy with.. Democrats are not without fault, though. Such numbers are of no concern to Runcie and Carvalho, who report that they are planning intensive summer school sessions to allow students to make up for the school days they missed over the past year, and they expect to open fully in the fall of 2021. The impromptu overnight event was one of three in the city, organized late at night at two University of Washington vaccine clinics and one Swedish Health Services vaccine clinic, to ensure COVID-19 vaccine doses from an area hospital did not go to waste. She truly cared about our kids, especially their feelings.. (The other is Georgia.). He was 51 years old. The partisan divide in COVID deaths, Hanage said, is just another example of how the partisan politics of the U.S. has poisoned the well of public health.. He also coached middle school soccer and football. COVIDs high Republican death rates are not an isolated phenomenon but a continuation of this trend. Polk County School Board member Lynn Wilson called it "a terrible tragedy" in an interview with WESH2 News. Another 11,470 people died within 21 days of having their second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine, and 182 people died within 21 days of having their second dose of a Covid-19 vaccine whose death allegedly involved Covid-19. Whether to teach K-12 students virtually, in-person or through a combination of the two is an issue that has divided people in many of the nations largest school districts. Last Friday, Carol Zuckerman, a 56-year-old teacher who taught at a school in Broward County, Florida, died while battling COVID-19. 4,115 people have been hospitalized or died with Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated. Nicole Hollis was a third-grade teacher at River City Science Academy Mandarin when she died from COVID-19 Aug. 14, according to her family. Despite the jump in deaths, the rate of kids testing positive for Covid-19 for the first time is about the same as last winter before the current Delta surge. Zuckerman is far from the first Florida educator to die as a result of contracting coronavirus. He was employed with the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office, serving most recently as the Youth Resource Deputy at St. Augustine High School. They were administrators and maintenance workers. The data, however imperfect, demand a reckoning with the consequences of such a strategy not only during the pandemic but over the past few decades, and in the years to come. Various unions have compiled their own statistics. Zuckerman was a single mother of a 10-year-old daughter named Lacey, and taught first grade at Aventura Waterways K-8 Center. A colleague of hers was married to one of the teachers who passed away of Covid-19. Schools in Florida are currently required to allow families the option to opt out of mask requirements, per DeSantis, and individual school districts have been battling the state over their right to enact such mandates in classrooms. Some of the information in this story may have changed after publication. CNN Sans & 2016 Cable News Network. The district has an online portal that tracks COVID-19 cases among its employees and staff, and it is continuing to urge all of those who are eligible to get vaccinated. Even when vaccines came around, these differences continued, Mauricio Santillana, an epidemiology expert at Northeastern University and a co-author of the study, told me. Trump disparaged vaccines while president, even after orchestrating Operation Warp Speed. At first, Vasquez, who is 49, said she was willing to give the arrangement a try. In Florida, teacher vacancies this year increased by more than 67% compared with August 2020, . 2023 Cable News Network. If you know an educator from Northeast Florida or Southeast Georgia who is not listed who you want remembered, please email us at news@actionnewsjax.com. Zuckermans brother Charles told reporters that his sister was known for her fearless independence: She was a very active person who had a lot of friends. Obviously, nothing about being a Republican makes someone inherently anti-vaccine. This means that in-school transmission of coronavirus will continue to occur even if teachers are vaccinated, making schools significant vectors for the spread of more infectious and lethal variants of the virus throughout Florida communities. Britt died July 26, Mark died just four days later. Gotreaux, the special education teacher in Georgia, said shes been in a process of mourning ever since she decided to eventually leave her job. Ever since her school district announced a return to in-person classes last October, the 26-year-old has been frustrated by the decisions made by local and state leaders. In places with strong teachers unions, educators have more power. And unions in West Virginia and New Jersey have responded to reopening plans with similar pushback. 2 Days Into The School Year, A Florida District Asked 440 Students To Quarantine, Florida Gov. On his prime-time Fox News show, Tucker Carlson has regularly questioned the safety of vaccines, inviting guests who have called for the shots to be withdrawn from the market.. School counselor Jennifer Susko is one of hundreds of Cobb County teachers and staff who protested over Covid-19 safety concerns during a school board meeting on January 21, 2021. Teaching was a very satisfying career for her., Among the digital memorial posts made by her loved ones were also statements from the parents of her students. The Florida Department of Health reported that 10,513 children under age 18 have tested positive since schools started reopening for in-person teaching, an increase of 34 percent. She leaves behind two young children. All Rights Reserved. She had a bit of a gypsy soul. Still, some officials and parents are pushing for a quicker return to in-person classes. When decisions are made about the lives of teachers, teachers need to be involved in those discussions, he said. Mobeen Rathore, Wolfsons chief of pediatric infectious disease and immunology, said more children are being admitted to intensive care units and getting intubated. Action News Jax facebook feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax twitter feed(Opens a new window), Action News Jax youtube feed(Opens a new window), St. Johns County middle school teacher dies of COVID-19; family says she always put students first, Deputy with the St. Johns County Sheriffs Office laid to rest, River City Science Academy mourns loss of 3rd-grade teacher, Assistant principal at Arlington Middle School dies unexpectedly, school officials say, Jacksonville high school football coach dies from COVID-19, Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories, JSO K9 escapes kennel, bites three people in Jacksonville neighborhood, To know Nancy was to love Nancy: St. Johns County woman killed in suspected DUI crash, Florida woman accused of killing terminally ill husband has been released from jail, St. Johns County Sheriffs office investigates robbery at Fresh Market in Ponte Vedra, JSO says missing child alert results in deadly drowning. Colleges and universities worldwide were forced to introduce COVID-related restrictions and to transition to mainly distance (online) teaching and learning for Academic Year 2020/2021. Coach Shell impacted many students both on and off the field and had an energy that was unmatched. Teachers are next in line for the Covid vaccine. Having said that, it doesnt mean were not worried sick about it,' Gwynn said during a Sept. 3 interview. Though he said he doesn't believe a mask policy is enforceable, he does think a virtual learning option would have been helpful, "and we couldn't do that either.". She had been a school bus driver in Brantley County for nearly 20 years. The anti-science messaging that fuels such a divide is popular with Republican leaders because it plays so well with their constituents. The syndrome can also affect individuals with mild cases. How many died > 30 days FRSIKTIGHET . More than 82,000 cases have been reported in K-12 schools, a number that has doubled since the beginning of 2021. She was uncomfortable with the high coronavirus case numbers in the county, coupled with a lack of testing for employees and students. Please hug your loved ones tight today.. DeSantis has threatened to withhold pay from superintendents and board members who buck an executive order banning mask mandates in schools. Broward Teachers Union President Anna Fusco said the start of the new school year has been a mix of emotions as the first day approaches. The deaths come just days before Broward County schools are . One study estimated that by the fall of 2021, vaccine uptake accounted for 10 percent of the total difference between Republican and Democratic deaths. How many have long covid, or ruined immune systems. The Biden administrations COVID blunders are no doubt to blame for some of the nations deaths. Previously, a total of seven kids died from the virus from the beginning of the pandemic through July, amounting to a span of more than 15 months. The mask mandate was a violation of an order signed by Florida Gov. hide caption. They were bus drivers and school-resource officers.