The Republican governors light-handed approach toward Covid-19 restrictions is rooted in the belief that residents should take health safety measures into their own hands. But to understand why Republicans have died at higher rates, you cant look at vaccine status alone. Many students in Florida also attended schools in-person during the previous school year. A 30-year teaching veteran was one of 15 Miami-Dade County public school staff members who died of COVID-19 in just 10 days as Florida continues to reel amid the continuing, overwhelming toll of an unfettered pandemic. She was the best thing to happen to our family! A A MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. / NBC6 Fifteen staffers of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools District have died from COVID-19 in the past 10 days, officials said. Three teachers in Broward County, Fla. died of COVID-19 within 24 hours this week, the head of the teacher's union clarified Friday. In Florida, teacher vacancies this year increased by more than 67% compared with August 2020, . 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. Her brother, Charles, said that no one knows where she contracted the virus, but her school had resumed in-person learning under the dictates of Floridas Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and it is entirely possible she contracted the virus at work. However, they were added to the Covid statistics due to having received a positive test within 28 days of their death. Officials Weigh in on Fall Plans, Florida Reports Record Number of COVID-19 Cases, Hospitalizations Since Pandemic Began, 260 Employees in Georgia School District Test Positive for or Exposed to COVID-19, More Than 500,000 Children Nationwide Test Positive for COVID in Three Weeks Since Schools Reopened, Tennessee Dad's Passionate Speech About Masks in Schools Goes Viral: 'Take Care of Other People'. Superintendents are doing the best they can, but theyre dealing with a lose-lose situation, he said. Parents could choose whether their child attended virtually or in person, but teachers werent given an option: They had to report to the building. Her passing came two days after her mother's death from the same disease. Children arrive, Tuesday, Aug. 10, 2021, for the first day of school at Washington Elementary School in Riviera Beach, Fla. | Wilfredo Lee/AP Photo. 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. Why he talked to countries like UK, Ireland, Brazil and India . Our deepest condolences are going out to the family and friends of former Ribault Trojans head coach Lin Shell. Reuters Fact Check. The state data does not break down the number of new infections by age, though children 12 and older are eligible to receive the vaccine. Texas faces a teacher shortage that COVID-19 is making worse | The Ron DeSantis (R) and Broward County's school board, which has opted to defy the. William Billy Poyner, 46, died July 26 after a valiant battle with COVID-19, his obituary said. Six of those teachers and staff members have died since Aug. 17, in just over 30 days. In an environment where partisanship trumps allincluding trying to save peoples livessuch messaging is both politically effective and morally abhorrent. A colleague of hers was married to one of the teachers who passed away of Covid-19. Johnson Middle School teacher Elizabeth Toro died this week of COVID-19. 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. "The outcome, the consequence is the death of individuals, and that's just not acceptable.". Looking at the period before the vaccines, researchers found a 1.6-percentage-point difference in excess-death rate among Republicans and Democrats, with a higher rate among Republicans. Four teachers in Florida's Broward county have died from Covid-19 this week as the Delta variant of coronavirus rages in the state amid political rows over mask mandates and vaccination. #TrojanPride pic.twitter.com/0GKMv7yuva. Overall, K-12 employees' general satisfaction . He has won praise from conservatives across the nation for his rejection of lockdowns and measures like vaccine passports, positioning DeSantis for a possible 2024 presidential run if former President Donald Trump chooses not to mount a bid. COVIDs high Republican death rates are not an isolated phenomenon but a continuation of this trend. 'The end of the beginning.' 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. Shirley Duggan (Brantley County School District). 15 South Florida school district staff members die of COVID-19 - WJXT Thank you for all the prayers! Never miss a story sign up for PEOPLE's free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories. Trump disparaged vaccines while president, even after orchestrating Operation Warp Speed. Our monetization model empowers Citizen Journalists to report the news in local and national markets. There was the third grade teacher in South Carolina who used her musical talents to make learning fun. When we compare individuals who are of the same age, who live in the same county in the same month of the pandemic, there are differences correlated with your political-party affiliation that emerge after vaccines are available, Jacob Wallace, an assistant professor of public health at Yale who co-authored the paper, told me. She was like her grandmother. He was well known for his success in helping children learn in every setting, and we were all very much looking forward to his leadership over our PRIDE program this year. He will be missed dearly!! She leaves behind two young children. Your effort and contribution in providing this feedback is much STAY UPDATED:Download the Action News Jax app for live updates on breaking stories. The University of California, Davis's teacher education program staved off a planned suspension due only to widespread outcry. What made her life any less than any of these huge companies that are having their employees work from home? Vasquez asked. That same month, a Georgia teacher sued state leaders and local school officials for allegedly putting students, staff and families at risk. Since October 5, when Miami-Dade reopened, 5,198 students and 2,084 employees have tested positive for COVID-19. But by publishing those figures they accidentally revealed that 30,305 people had died within 21 days of having a Covid-19 vaccine in England between January 2nd and July 2nd 2021. The syndrome, also known as MIS-C, is an inflammation of the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin, eyes, or gastrointestinal organs, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The deaths also pose a political threat to Gov. Other politicians, such as Texas Governor Greg Abbott, made all COVID-vaccine mandates illegal in their state. Ron DeSantis, the Broward County School Board voted 8-1 Tuesday to make wearing masks in all district schools and facilities mandatory for students, staff, and visitors, member station WLRN reported. Among new persons tested, more than 21 percent were found positive for the virus. In an act of defiance aimed at Republican Gov. COVID cases among teachers appear to be rising. What does that mean But, in challenging situations such as these, he said he would appreciate teachers being consulted. In districts around the country, several teachers who spoke to CNN reported being at their wits end: constantly being asked to do more with less while feeling like their anxieties arent being heard. Florida COVID update: cases, deaths, vaccine count | Miami Herald She does care about her students. All Rights Reserved. The deaths were all recorded within a 24-hour span, according to union officials representing employees of the local school district. by Justine Coleman - 09/10/20 3:33 PM ET. 4,115 people have been hospitalized or died with Covid-19 despite being fully vaccinated. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of yourNEWS. But one of the more extensive efforts to track educator deaths from Covid-19 comes from a memorial run by the trade publication Education Week. In places with strong teachers unions, educators have more power. Some 15 million people died during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic, new figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) suggest. Thankfully the NHS data informs us that just 3,832 people actually died OF Covid-19 within 28 days of a positive test result in England hospitals between March 2020 and August 25th 2021. Polk County School Board member Lynn Wilson called it "a terrible tragedy" in an interview with WESH2 News. It is the first time in two months since the delta variant-fueled wave started June 18 that weekly cases have . 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. Teacher Elizabeth DeSantis, wearing a mask and face shield, helps a first grader during reading class at Stark Elementary School in September 2020 in Stamford, Connecticut. "It is a big number. More recently, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis called for a grand jury to investigate the safety of COVID vaccines. While the 17 child deaths may seem low compared to the older adults, the increase of six deaths in August is an inevitable result of more kids becoming infected, according to officials at the Wolfson Childrens Hospital in Jacksonville. 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. But after months of trying to conceal the data, the Office for National Statistics published a report which contained figures on deaths by vaccination status. Though the former school superintendent currently represents other superintendents and administrators, hes been a teacher and principal, too. Two teachers and one teaching assistant died this week from complications of Covid-19, rattling a school district in southern Florida only days before students are scheduled to return to. The county has now recorded at least 42,482 confirmed cases and 689 deaths. Health outcomes have been diverging at the state level since the 90s, Steven Woolf, an epidemiologist at Virginia Commonwealth University, told me. 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. One of the most compelling studies comes from researchers at Yale, who published their findings as a working paper in November. Four Florida teachers died this week, days before school year begins The American Federation of Teachers, one of the nations largest teachers unions, estimates more than 530 of their members died of the virus last year. 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. How many teachers are they going to let die before they say, OK, this is a problem?. While both say they will continue insisting on a mask mandate, they report that social distancing rules will be relaxed to allow as many students as possible to come back to classrooms. The first grade teacher in El Paso who once went viral for teaching students to be kind. Teacher deaths from COVID-19 raise alarms as new school year begins. Misinformation #10: One in five people get long COVID The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention claims that 20% of COVID infections can . 03 Mar 2023 21:43:25 Teachers have lost colleagues to Covid-19 and worry about being - CNN In any case, the long-term decline of health in red states indicates that there is an ongoing problem at a high level in Republican-led places, and that something has gone awry. Why nobody knows exactly how many Texas teachers have died of COVID-19 The past few months as a teacher have made her feel disposable, she said. His spokesperson, Christina Pushaw, instead pointed to a statewide decrease in pediatric hospitalizations over the past two weeks. Less than a week before schools are set to reopen in Florida's Broward County, local union officials say three educators have died of complications from the coronavirus. In the excess death study, researchers dealt only with rates of excess death, not actual death-toll numbers. Florida saw an overall 63 percent increase in new childhood infections in August, which is the greatest monthly increase in cases for kids since March 2020. Polk County Public Schools say a dozen employees have died from the coronavirus since school began on Aug. 10, according to multiple outlets. Florida officials reported 150,118 coronavirus infections from Aug.13-19. Then three educators in her district died of Covid-19 within the span of a month, and she was upset at seeing business continue as usual. The right-wing media have leaned even harder into vaccine skepticism. Ron DeSantis, who have banned them from requiring masks. International Committee of the Fourth International, COVID, Capitalism, and Class War: A Social and Political Chronology of the Pandemic, Sign up for the WSWS Educators Newsletter, scheme to distribute vaccines to wealthy, affluent communities, One year of the COVID-19 pandemic: A disaster caused by capitalism, School worker deaths mount in Florida as virus spreads without restraint, Florida Governor DeSantis prioritizes vaccine rollout for wealthier communities. Although they can't show it. This Weekend, per HHS Data, Florida Reports Rise in COVID-19 Hospitalizations Among Children, Florida Gov. Though cases of teachers quitting over Covid-19 concerns are rare, Gotreaux isnt alone in feeling expendable. RT @MollyJongFast: How many people died of wokeness because millions of people have died of COVID . Many Republicansin fact, most of themhave gotten their first two shots. Coronavirus cases in San Antonio were relatively low at the time, and teachers had been assured that schools would go fully online again if infections got out of hand, she said. Bobby Rivers, assistant principal at Arlington Middle School, died on Aug. 10. Cases of COVID-19, fueled by the highly contagious delta variant, have spread quickly through schools. When you consider that testing was compulsory in hospitals, despite it not being written in law, and they used thePCR test notorious for producing false positives, its not hard to see how the Government managed to mix tens of thousands of people who actually died of other causes into the Covid-19 death statistics. A Florida teacher in a school district where 3 educators died in a Six members of a church in Florida, all of whom were unvaccinated, died of Covid-19 in less than two . The figures contained in the report were supposed to mislead the public into believing Covid-19 vaccination was fantastic at preventing death. They were administrators and maintenance workers. The hospitals chief of pediatric critical care, Michael Gayle, said most of those patients also suffered from underlying medical conditions such as obesity. Meanwhile, the number of vaccines available across Florida has been limited, with some educators driving long distances chasing rumors that vaccines are available. How many have long covid, or ruined immune systems. Cases of COVID-19, fueled by the highly contagious delta variant, have spread quickly through schools. istock. A Warner Bros. 3 Unvaccinated Teachers in Florida County Die of COVID Within - Yahoo! 5 South Florida Police Officers Died From COVID-19 in One Week - Insider The deaths so far are enough to worry educators and school staff in some districts. The four teachers in Montgomery, Alabama, who died within 48 hours of each other. 3 Unvaccinated Florida Teachers Died, the Media Rushed To Blame Ron According to the president of United Teachers of Dade, Karla Hernandez-Mats, all of those who died were African American and unvaccinated. Fourteen of the 15 states with the lowest vaccination rates voted for Donald Trump in 2020. Both closed on March 13, 2020 and were the last in the state to reopen in October. About a third of Americansmore than a hundred million peoplehave yet to get their initial shots. China's official count 0 2.5 million . Fact Check: Did Florida Gov. About a third of Americansmore than a hundred million peoplehave. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been over 220,000 confirmed pediatric cases of COVID-19 in Florida, and nearly 8,000 emergency room admissions. This claim is false. Amanda Winkle is the digital content manager for Action News Jax. They chose to analyze data from Florida and Ohio from before and after vaccines were available. That said, weve had teachers, coaches, principals, and superintendents get ill on a pretty regular basis and die, Brown 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. Ron DeSantis, who have banned them from requiring masks. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images And how teachers feel about their situations and the recourse they have varies widely from district to district and region to region. Because thelatest datasetpublished on 21st February 2023, confirms COVID Vaccination increases a persons risk of death by up to 276%. FEMA insists that they have no control over the guidelines, and that the distribution terms are dictated by DeSantis, who has been implicated in a scheme to distribute vaccines to wealthy, affluent communities. and that mortality rates per 100,000 are lowest among the unvaccinated. At least 13 staff members within the Miami-Dade County public school district have died due to coronavirus since the middle of last month, a union leader said. all COVID-vaccine mandates illegal in their state, vaccine uptake accounted for 10 percent of the total. She had previously taught at Nease High School, working with special needs students. 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. Eva Marie Uzcategui/Bloomberg/Getty Images, has withheld funding from two school districts. Overall, 31 workers in 100,000 died of COVID in 2020. What we do have is a patchwork of estimations and correlations that, taken together, paint a blurry but nevertheless grim picture of how Republican leaders spread the vaccine hesitancy that has killed so many people. Florida school district rattled by Covid-related teacher deaths days One wrote: My son would always come home and share stories about what she told him about history. Last Friday, Carol Zuckerman, a 56-year-old teacher who taught at a school in Broward County, Florida, died while battling COVID-19. Theres pressure from state leaders, too. COVID-19: FL teachers have to wait for vaccine, DeSantis says She had a bit of a gypsy soul. Whats most concerning about all of this is that partisan disparities in death rates were also apparent before COVID. Thats a statement we can confidently make based on the study and we couldnt before.. She truly cared about our kids, especially their feelings.. In New York alone, 75 Department of Education employees died from COVID-19, including 31 teachers. The delta variant-driven COVID-19 surge made August one of the worst months of the entire pandemic. The survey, conducted in December, included responses from . The absolute number of Republican deaths is less important than the fact that they happened needlessly. And yet, the party that describes itself as pro-life campaigned against them. So each Sunday, as the prospect of making it through another work week looms over her, Hare said she finds it difficult to sleep. Watch on. Rev. Florida covid cases rise among school-age children but school-specific But eligibility does not equal availability, and it could be a while before many of those educators get a shot. Kevin Brown, executive director of the Texas Association of School Administrators, said he understands how educators are feeling. Various unions have compiled their own statistics. At least 15 teachers, staff from the Jacksonville area have died of COVID-19 since July. What to Know About Florida's Controversial New Bill Banning LGBTQ Topics in Schools, Fla. Since the first death attributable to COVID-19 was reported in the United States on Feb. 29, 2020, an estimated 612,973 Americans have died and as . More than 15 Northeast Florida and Southeast Georgia teachers and staff members have died of COVID-19 since July, Action News Jax has learned. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. The two married teachers in Grand Prairie, Texas, who died holding hands. Florida's COVID deaths climb as children lead state in positivity rate 24 educators and family members have died of COVID-19 as of Monday. "I think because they scream louder, [he thinks] there must be more of them than the constituents that are taking this virus really [seriously] and want to be safe and secure.". Terrazas knows there are no easy answers, and that parents and students are struggling too. Six of those teachers and staff members have died since Aug. 17, in just over 30 days. But in that delicate balancing act, she said, she feels that the concerns of teachers arent given the same consideration. Theres also no evidence to suggest more teachers are dying than people in other professions. One of the educators that lost their life to COVID-19 was Abe Coleman, 55, a teacher for . But those figures may have actually been published by accident. People living in Republican jurisdictions have been at a health disadvantage for more than 20 years. Garcia. We almost feel as if we are being selfish if were saying were afraid to get sick, she said while choking up. Therefore 30,305 people died within 21 days of having the Covid-19 vaccine in England during the first 6 months of 2021. Broward County Teachers Union President Anna Fusco issued a I dont feel like people have compassion towards that or if they truly understand that that is what we do.. But that estimate has changedand even likely grownover time. In the same time period, the political gap in death rates increased sixfold. DeSantis says Florida teachers, school staff will not be prioritized for COVID-19 vaccine . The district said it has ordered approximately 50,000 desk shields and expects the installation to be complete "within another month," per WESH2 News. Catherine Shuman, 38, died Aug. 11 after a battle with COVID-19 according to her family. Congressional districts controlled by a trifecta of Republican leadersstate governor, Senate, and Househad an 11 percent higher death rate, according to the Lancet study. Jamie Morris, 40, was a 7th-grade teacher at Pierce County Middle School and a father of three. Florida teacher dies while battling COVID-19 - World Socialist Web Site Florida in August changed its rules for determining whether someone died of COVID-19, moving that responsibility from public medical examiners to the doctors who treated the patients. Three teachers in Florida's second-largest school district have died from Covid-19 within two days of each other, union officials say. Zuckerman is far from the first Florida educator to die as a result of contracting coronavirus. Learn about careers at Cox Media Group. You can find anti-vaxxers in every corner of the country. Including weekends and holidays, thats nearly six classroom closings on average per day. "But a mask mandate? (AP) Teachers in at least three states have died after bouts with the . Among the 13 were. 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.