The Minnesota Teachers’ Union is urging the state to release more information on serious cases of coronavirus in schools as the number of school-related COVID-19 deaths this fall matches the total for the previous school year.
On Thursday, state health authorities reported the eighth death of a school worker since the first week of September. One student also died this fall from complications related to COVID-19.
Sixteen K-12 school employees and two students have died from COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. Figures include public, private and tribal schools.
Since the state health department began reporting the number of coronavirus in schools in August 2020, 257 employees and 151 students have been hospitalized with the disease, according to a weekly report released Thursday. Of these cases, 51 staff members and 20 students required ICU assistance. A total of 34,586 students contracted COVID-19 in a school setting.
In a statement, the Minnesota Department of Education called the deaths tragic and asked health officials to release anonymous summary of school-related deaths and hospitalizations to help educators make better safety decisions.
The Department of Health currently publishes a weekly list of school buildings, which reports five or more cases of illness among students or staff, but does not provide information on deaths and hospitalizations for specific schools.
