Minnesota Student Dies Of COVID-19 After Being Infected In School

A second Minnesota student has died this school year from a COVID-19 infection associated with schools, the state's health department said Thursday, bringing the total number of students who died due to school-related infections since the pandemic began to three.

"This is tragic news and I hope Minnesotans can pull together and do all we can to prevent another student from dying of this virus," Education Minnesota president Denise Specht was quoted as saying by WCCO Channel 4.

No identifying information for the deceased student was included in the Minnesota Department of Health's (MDH) most recent weekly COVID-19 report, which was released Thursday. However, the department reported that a teenager from Beltrami County with a pre-existing medical condition died of COVID-19 in last week's report.

A total of 18 staff members have also died due to school-related COVID-19 infections, according to the MDH's latest report.

A total of 47,223 student cases associated with schools have been reported in Minnesota, with 191 cases being hospitalized and 26 ending up in intensive care units (ICU), data showed. Additionally, 300 staff members have been hospitalized, and 58 were admitted to the ICU.

"We must stay strong and do all we can do to make school buildings safe places to learn and work," said Specht, whose organization is the largest teachers' union in Minnesota, according to KROX Radio 1260.

Education Minnesota has since called for the state's health department to release anonymous summary information about the school staff members who have died as well as the nearly 500 students and staff members who have been hospitalized due to COVID-19.

The union said that the information would help school district decision-makers improve safety protocols for both students and staff.

Minnesota reported a total of 952,232 positive COVID-19 cases and 9,814 deaths in Thursday's weekly report.

The state's positivity rate reached 11.9% Thursday, the highest figure reported as of Dec. 1, accounting for the data lag, WCCO Channel 4 reported. The number is the highest the positivity rate has been since December last year.

Overall, the U.S. has reported 49,660,358 COVID-19 cases and 794,647 deaths, data provided by Johns Hopkins University showed.