Two educators from Cobb County died on the same day in Covid-19, prompting demands for the school district in the Atlanta suburb to switch to remote education.
Kemp Elementary School teacher Dana Johnson was hospitalized with the disease on December 6, according to a GoFundMe created to raise money for her family. The married mother of three was later diagnosed with double pneumonia and moved to the intensive care unit.
She died on Thursday after fighting the virus for more than a month.
A Cobb district spokesman confirmed the death in a statement on Friday.
“Our hearts are with the Johnson family and the entire Kemp community. Ms. Johnson was a valuable part of our academic community. The expression of support for her family during this difficult period shows how much she was loved and positively impacted those around her. around, “said the spokesman.
News of Johnson’s death arrived the same day as another district educator. Paraprofessional Cynthia Lindsey of Sedalia Park Elementary School died on Thursday after spending more than a week in the hospital on a ventilator, according to NBC affiliate WXIA-TV in Atlanta.
The district statement did not confirm Lindsey’s death.
“Every member of our school community has been impacted by the ongoing battle against Covid-19,” said the spokesman. “We continue to ask our employees, students and families to follow public health guidelines – wear masks and social distance – so that we can stay as healthy as possible.”
More than 100 teachers, students and community members gathered outside a Cobb school board meeting on Thursday to promote totally remote learning after the deaths, reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
The crowd held signs that said “No more teacher deaths”. People shouted, “One team, one goal. Save our lives.” During the meeting, about a dozen people spoke in favor of closing classrooms during the pandemic, according to the newspaper.
The district had already canceled all face-to-face classes this week due to the large number of students and staff who were instructed to quarantine. Face-to-face learning is scheduled to resume on Monday with the option for students to continue remote classes.
“This break will provide our families and employees with the opportunity to quarantine and work together to combat Covid-19 from our homes, limiting large meetings, reinforcing social distance, wearing a mask when social distance is not possible and washing away hands regularly, “the district said in a statement last Friday.
Cobb County is one of Georgia’s five counties with the highest number of coronavirus cases, according to the state’s Department of Public Health. Since the beginning of the pandemic, there have been 47,106 confirmed cases and 638 deaths.
