Heartbroken parents demand answers after 10-year-old daughter — who was appointed 'class nurse' — dies of COVID-19



The parents of a 10-year-old Virginia girl who died from COVID-19 in September are demanding answers after finding out that their daughter was designated "class nurse" in the days leading up to her untimely death.

Teresa Sperry, 10, died of COVID-19 on Sept. 27.

What are the details?

Days before her death, her fifth grade teacher designated Teresa to be the "class nurse," which according to a report from the Washington Post, meant that she was "in charge of walking sick classmates to the nurse's office, waiting for them to be treated, and, at times, returning to the classroom to retrieve their backpacks" if school officials determined the children ought to be sent home.

Her father, Jeff Sperry, told the outlet that his daughter told him that she'd taken several people to the nurse's station for assessment on just one given day.

“I asked her, ‘So is this your job?’" Sperry recalled asking his daughter. “And she gave me several examples of people that day she took to the nurse’s office.”

Sperry said that he was furious that the teacher would foist upon his daughter such a responsibility without his or his wife's knowledge and approval.

Teresa, who was not yet old enough to be vaccinated against COVID-19, soon returned home from school with a headache, and soon after, a fever.

Within a week, Teresa was dead.

"Of all the people in the world who could have done that job, [Teresa] was unprotected," he said.

What else is happening here?

According to the report, an investigation into the school found that a teacher assigned Teresa the class nurse job on Sept. 21.

The teacher, who remains unnamed at the time of this reporting, denied that Teresa was asked to escort sick students to the nurse's office and said that the child "never accompanied students who exhibited symptoms of the coronavirus to the clinic," but instead escorted children with various minor injuries — such as an arm injury and a twisted ankle. The investigation added that Teresa escorted just two children to the nurse's office between Sept. 21 and Sept. 23.

“Additionally, it was determined that students suspected of possible COVID-19 symptoms are escorted to the designated isolation space by the school nurse or school administration,” the report added. “Teresa never escorted students to the clinic who exhibited COVID-19 like symptoms.”

The report, according to the Post, stated that Teresa was also the first child in the class to test positive for COVID-19.

Teresa's mother, Nicole Sperry, told the outlet that she doesn't believe school officials are being honest, and said that she and her husband were initially forced to file a public records request to obtain a copy of the investigative report into the school's purported actions. Unhappy with the outcome, the Sperrys are demanding the administration embark on a new probe into the allegations.

“They aren’t being honest,” Teresa said. “What Teresa told us does not match the report.”

“How many times did they make her do this?” Jeff added. “The thing I want from them is the truth. What happened? So I can stop worrying about it and stop thinking about it.”

A spokesperson for the district declined to answer questions sent by The Post, but stated that Suffolk Public Schools “cannot comment on any particular student or how Suffolk Public Schools addresses the health needs of any particular student.”

“However, Suffolk Public Schools issued COVID-19 Guidelines to address and promote safety, health, and welfare of our students, employees, and our community,” the spokesperson added.

Virginia 10-Year-Old Dies From Covid Days After First Showing Symptoms www.youtube.com

CDC calls for schools to cancel football, band in US schools, gets panned as 'out-of-touch,' 'unrealistic'



Scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are issuing what some are saying is "out-of-touch" and "unrealistic" guidance for schools amid the COVID-19 pandemic, CNN reported.

On Jan. 6, the CDC advised that schools "cancel or hold high-risk sports and extra-curricular activities virtually" any time a community has what is considered a "high" COVID-19 transmission rate. Such activities include "those in which increased exhalation occurs, such as activities that involve singing, shouting, band, or exercise, especially when conducted indoors."

The CDC went on to note that at the time of its guidance, 99% of all U.S. counties were seeing a "high" rate of transmission.

What's the criticism?

CNN senior medical correspondent Elizabeth Cohen wrote, "If the scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had their way, to curb the spread of COVID-19 right now, nearly every U.S. school would cancel football, wrestling, band, and loads of other mainstay school activities."

Dr. William Schaffner, CDC adviser for at least four decades and infectious diseases expert at Vanderbilt University, has said that he believes that it is "unlikely, unreasonable, and unrealistic" to think that Americans will follow such advice in the coming days.

"Making public health recommendations — they are not a platonic idea," he added. "They have to work in the real world."

What doesn't work, Cohen said, is the "out-of-touch advice" that has been a "hallmark of many CDC recommendations" dating back to even before the pandemic, and health experts are now calling for the government agency to pick up its game.

Schaffner added that he can't fathom why the CDC would want to cancel certain extracurricular activities when all children do is shout.

"I could take you by the hand and say, 'Let's walk through three grammar schools,'" he said. "What we'd see is kids shouting in the hallways. That's what kids do."

Dr. Otis Brawley, who worked with the CDC from 2007 to 2018, told the outlet that he believes it is unrealistic to think that schools would cancel related activities.

"I really feel for the people at the CDC," Brawley admitted. "They're damned if they do, and they're damned if they don't."

School Superintendents Association President Paul Imhoff added that extracurricular activities — such as football, choir, and more — are an integral component to a well-rounded curriculum and for students' overall mental health.

"As schools are making decisions about having choir and band and wrestling, it's about making sure our kids are healthy in every way," he reasoned. "I think everyone's doing their best to take care of the whole child."

A federal health official who spoke on condition of anonymity told the outlet that the CDC needs to make better use of its own communication specialists.

"There simply is not a seat at the table for communicators when it comes to actually developing guidance," the official said and noted that CDC communication specialists would "take into account whether the guidance that's being developed is truly practical."

Prioritizing 'academics over athletics'

Cohen cited CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky's response to CNN's questioning about the recently updated guidance.

Walensky responded that the CDC was prioritizing "academics over athletics because of the increased risks involved in some extracurricular sports."

"When followed, our school guidance has been incredibly effective," she added. "In the fall, 99 percent of schools were able to remain open during the intense delta wave of COVID."

Walensky continued, pointing out that availability of vaccines for school-age children adds "another layer of protection" and "enhances the school guidance."

"[The CDC] developed our school guidance knowing school administrators, teachers and parents were looking to us at CDC to get their children back in the enriching environment of the classroom and it was a priority to get our children back to school safely," she added.