3 Arizona Teachers Caught Coronavirus But Only 2 Survived. This Is What They Want You To Know [View all]

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Source: CNN

(By Hollie Silverman, CNN) Three teachers in Arizona were sharing a classroom for two hours a day teaching online classes during the pandemic. Despite following protocols -- social distancing, wearing masks and gloves, and using hand sanitizer -- they were all sickened by the coronavirus.

Kimberley Chavez Lopez Byrd, 61, died June 26, less than two weeks after she was hospitalized. She had worked for the Hayden Winkelman School District for 38 years. The two surviving teachers, Jena Martinez and Angela Skillings, spoke with CNN's Don Lemon on CNN Tonight Monday and said that it is not yet safe for kids, or teachers, to return to the classroom.

- 'Our schools are not ready' As state's across the country prepare to reopen schools for in-classroom learning, teachers are trying to figure out the safest way to resume in-person education. While some schools have given the option for online courses, others are still working on plans to return to the classroom.

Martinez said that when they began to do their online schooling from campus, they had plans in place meant to keep them safe from the virus. "We followed everything we were supposed to do," Martinez said, pointing to CDC guidelines and their own school's mandate for how to safely come back to campus. "While we were there, we did distance ourselves." But that didn't stop them from all catching the virus, with Byrd being the first....

Read more: https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/14/us/arizona-teachers-coronavirus-survivors/index.html

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*Watch the CNN Video Interview with the 2 Surviving Teachers, In the Link*

Even with good hygiene practices in place, Martinez and Skillings say it's too soon to return. They know because they've experienced it first-hand.

"Schools are not ready to open," Skillings told Don Lemon, adding that schools are scheduled to reopen in Arizona on August 17.

Skillings noted that schools have been closed down since March, so there is no sure way to know that transmission between children in schools won't be an issue.