CPS mom died after children were infected with COVID-19 in a school where hundreds of children were isolated

According to the family, the mother of a student at Chicago Public Schools at Jensen Elementary School died after a fight against COVID-19, but hundreds of students, including herself, were at school.

Faced with criticism from the Chicago Teachers’ Union and some parents about a safety plan for a full-time reopening this fall, the district claims that there has been little infection in the school since the outbreak of the pandemic. doing. The virus, and again Monday, denied finding evidence that eight incidents in Jensen had been passed on to others in the building or at home.

Shenisa’Angel’curry, described by her family as “lively and candid” before she died late last week, said the school system’s COVID-19 protocol, especially she never reached her. An interview that said he was dissatisfied and angry with the tracking program. Curry’s sister said on Monday that Curry said she was convinced that her illness came from school on her last day. Curry’s 44th birthday would have been later this week.

Jensen was already worried before his parents learned of Curry’s death from teachers and union organizers when he took his children to school on Monday. According to district records, 205 students returned home in the last two weeks after being identified as having a close relationship with at least one of eight children or educators infected with the virus. This would quarantine 11 of the school’s 17 classrooms and allow 8 classes to return on Monday from a two-week distance learning period. Lonedale has 297 students.

Curry’s fifth-grade daughter was one of the children who was quarantined and instructed to return home this week, but she is at home after her mother died on Thursday. Curry also has a son in high school.

A CPS official emailed the Jensen community on Sunday night, “I am saddened by the devastating impact of COVID-19 on our community and understand the horrors and anxieties that must be felt from this tragedy.” Is written.

The district did not mention Curry passing that message, and spokeswoman Catherine Hosinsky said in an email Monday that CPS “health issues related to our students and their families due to federal privacy law.” Cannot confirm or deny the report. “

She said the Chicago Department of Public Health “continues to consider the situation, but at this time there is no evidence based on available information such as the timing of symptoms, test dates, and known out-of-school exposures. “He added. One of the eight Jensen cases was sent at school.

District officials said they would visit the school on Monday and provide school tests through the Lully Children’s Hospital starting Tuesday. This year’s Jensen hasn’t been tested yet.

The official cause of death has not been identified, as a spokesman for Cook County’s medical inspector said she had not yet received notification of Curry’s death from the hospital she was admitted to, the West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park.

Provided by / Jasyma Johnson

Jensen’s teachers and staff dressed in black on Monday and put roses out of school to commemorate Curry’s death and another mother they said died on Friday. No details have been released about the cause of death of the mother or her.

The zip code of 60644, where Curry lived, is 48% and is in the city’s bottom five COVID-19 vaccination rates, city data show. Her sister said Curry herself was hesitant to get the vaccine for a variety of reasons and had not been injected despite her underlying medical condition.

In a Facebook post on September 16, Curry wrote that she was the first to receive an email stating that her daughter tested positive for COVID-19 and was near someone in need of quarantine. She then said contact tracing had been completed and a text had been sent telling her daughter’s class to return to school this Monday.

“Someone tell me how contact tracing is done,” Curry wrote, “who called my phone to see if we were sick here.” There is no such thing. ” At that point, her post said her daughter had improved, but she and her daughter had already been ill for several days. In response to a friend’s comment on her post, Curry said she was “barely able to go to the bathroom” because she was so ill.

In an interview on Monday, Curry’s sister Jashima Johnson said she went to the emergency room the day Curry posted on Facebook and was discharged the same night. A few days after the fight against the virus, Curry was arrested that Sunday, sent to the intensive care unit, and stayed until his death on Thursday.

According to Johnson, her sister strictly followed the pandemic mitigation protocol, leaving home only when necessary, always wearing a mask, cleaning her hands, and disinfecting the surface. With that in mind, Johnson said Curry was “100% confident” that her illness could be traced back to school. According to Johnson, she wanted her children to learn remotely this fall.

“She was really angry that she had to go to school because she thought she would get sick. And here it is. She got sick, and She didn’t beat it. “

Tyler La Riviere / Sun Times

Meanwhile, on Monday other parents at school said they were worried about the health of their children.

Ratrice Jackson, who has two sons and one daughter in Jensen, was out of Jensen in the afternoon and separated his son from school. Meanwhile, Jackson’s daughter has been quarantined for almost two weeks after being exposed to a confirmed case and is in a classroom scheduled to return on Wednesday. She is virtually learning in the meantime.

“I was a little [nervous] But when it comes to safety, everything seemed to be in place, “Jackson said of sending children back to school this fall. “But it doesn’t look like that anymore …. ridiculous. My kids go home.”

Jackson said she believes the entire school should be closed for two weeks for cleaning and quarantine. She wasn’t sure if she would send her daughter back this week after the quarantine period was over.

“I don’t think it’s safe,” Jackson said.

contribution: Brett chase