Teacher dies after contracting COVID-19, North Carolina district says
A North Carolina teacher died after contracting the coronavirus, officials say.
The Cumberland County Schools teacher was working remotely and didn’t expose other workers to the virus, the district said Tuesday in a statement to McClatchy News.
“Our thoughts and prayers are with the employee’s family, loved ones and school community,” Superintendent Marvin Connelly Jr. said in the statement.
The district, which is based in Fayetteville, says it can’t provide other details at this time because of confidentiality rules.
It wasn’t the first time a North Carolina school worker died after getting a COVID-19 infection.
In November, a 51-year-old woman who worked two decades for Union County Schools near Charlotte died months after she first became sick, McClatchy News reported.
Earlier that month, a 51-year-old art teacher at The Capitol Encore Academy in Fayetteville died less than two weeks after she tested positive for the coronavirus.
And in October, a Stanly County elementary school teacher who contracted the virus died at age 49.
In Cumberland County Schools, some students will return to in-person classes starting next month. Depending on coronavirus cases, the district could have a mix of remote and face-to-face learning in January and move younger students to only in-person instruction in February, according to its website.
Under the district’s plan, staff will come back to school buildings on Jan. 4.
“Our team has worked extremely hard to prepare for a safe and healthy return to in-person learning,” Connelly said in a Nov. 13 news release. “We will continue to follow guidance from health officials as we prepare to welcome students back to the classroom.
Cumberland County is in the “orange” zone on North Carolina’s three-tiered statewide coronavirus alert map, The News & Observer reported. Counties labeled orange have “substantial community spread,” measured by new case rates as well as more than 8% of coronavirus tests coming back positive or a “moderate impact” on local hospitals, according to state officials.
This story was originally published December 1, 2020 at 12:26 PM with the headline "Teacher dies after contracting COVID-19, North Carolina district says."
