Minnesota’s teachers union is calling on the state to release more information on serious school-related coronavirus cases as the number school-related deaths from COVID-19 this fall has matched the total from last school year.
State health officials on Thursday reported the eighth death of a school employee since the first week of September. One student also has died from COVID-19 complications this fall.
Sixteen K-12 school employees and two students have died from COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. The figures include public, private and tribal schools.
Since the state health department began reporting school-related coronavirus numbers in August 2020, 257 employees and 151 students have been hospitalized with the disease, according to the weekly report published Thursday. Of those cases, 51 staff and 20 students required ICU care. In all, 34,586 students have been infected with COVID-19 in a school setting.
In a statement, Education Minnesota called the deaths tragic and asked that health officials release anonymous summary data on deaths and hospitalizations tied to schools to help educators make better safety decisions.
The Health Department currently publishes a weekly list of school buildings that reported five or more cases among students or staff but does not provide school-specific information on deaths and hospitalizations.