4 Broward County, Florida, educators died in 24 hours from Covid-19 complications

(CNN) — Four educators successful Broward County, Florida, died wrong 24 hours of each different from Covid-19 related complications, section acquisition officials said.

“Within a 24-hour span, we had an adjunct teacher walk away, a teacher astatine her schoolhouse walk away, an simple teacher walk distant and different teacher astatine a precocious school,” Anna Fusco, president of the Broward Teachers Union, told CNN affiliate WFOR.

Broward County School Board Chair Rosalind Osgood was alert of respective teachers’ deaths, telling CNN connected Friday: “We got accusation connected Tuesday that was reported to us. I cognize of 3 of those teachers that passed distant from Covid successful Broward County.”

At slightest 3 of the educators were unvaccinated, Fusco told WFOR. The vaccination presumption of the 4th wasn’t instantly known.

“I was besides told that they were unvaccinated,” Osgood said erstwhile asked whether 3 of the teachers were not vaccinated.

The teachers’ deaths travel conscionable days earlier classes commencement successful Broward County, among the country’s largest schoolhouse districts, and as coronavirus cases surge successful Florida and different states, driven by the Delta variant and debased vaccination rates. The confluence is reigniting debates implicit Covid-19 mitigation strategies as a caller world twelvemonth begins.

Broward County Public Schools has had 138 employees trial affirmative for Covid-19 since August 1, according to the schoolhouse system’s Covid-19 dashboard, which was updated Thursday. Classes are scheduled to statesman adjacent week, according to the schoolhouse calendar; employees began readying connected Wednesday.

The territory already had recovered itself successful the headlines successful caller weeks for steps taken connected disguise mandates: Earlier this week the schoolhouse committee voted to support a disguise mandate approved precocious past month, contempt an enforcement bid from Gov. Ron DeSantis efficaciously prohibiting specified a request successful schoolhouse districts.

The bid — the taxable of several lawsuits — required the state’s wellness and acquisition departments to marque rules giving parents, not schools, the quality to take whether their children should deterioration masks.