The death of Demetria Bannister, a third-grade teacher in South Carolina, on 7th September came as a shock to many. Although she had been diagnosed with coronavirus, a week after schools reopened on September 4th, she was among the demographics that had been least affected by the virus. She was only aged 28 years, an age group that has not had a lot of fatalities due to the virus.
Demetria Bannister, however, is not the only teacher who has died from the virus. Data from the American Federation of Teachers shows that over 210 teachers have died from the coronavirus since the pandemic started. In New York alone, data showed that 75 teachers had died from the coronavirus in the past few months, as the virus wreaked havoc in the city.
Death of Demetria Bannister highlights unpreparedness
Demetria Bannister is also among at least five other teachers from the South who have died of the coronavirus. This includes teachers from Mississipi, Missouri, South Carolina and Oklahoma reigniting fears of the ability of the government to protect the teachers from getting infected and dying from the virus.
The push to reopen in-person classes has also gained steam, with President Trump championing for full in-person learning as soon as possible. On Thursday, the President tweeted “OPEN THE SCHOOLS ( SAFELY), NOW!,” as he continued to campaign on the school reopenings.
However, it is not the school reopenings that a lot of teachers are concerned with, it is the ‘safely’ part that is making teachers very nervous.
The US handling of coronavirus has been disastrous, according to many experts, who have also cast doubts on the preparedness of school reopenings. Coronavirus testing has been hailed as one of the best coronavirus measures that can ensure that school reopening in the US is safe. However, data shows that the US is only able to carry out about 21 million tests per month. This, according to the Rockefeller Foundation estimates that schools falls short of the 176 million tests per month that would be required or schools to reopen safely.
As the push for school reopening continues, the death of Demetria Bannister will continue invoking fear in teachers who have seen it as a sign of unpreparedness to the virus, and the ultimate risk they will be taking once they return back to classes.
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