Kindergartner reportedly dies of Covid-19 in Texas
A kindergarten student has died of Covid-19 at the Amarillo Independent School District in northern Texas, NBC affiliate KAMR reports.
Parents Lastassija White and Quincy Drone told the NBC affiliate that their five-year-old daughter Tagan died suddenly after a short battle with the virus.
"She loved to learn," White said, adding that her late daughter would so fastidious about wearing a mask that she would even remind her mom if she forgot hers.
White said Tagan became very sleepy last week, and then began to vomit, so she brought her to the emergency department where she tested positive for the coronavirus.
Tagan had no obvious symptoms like fever or cough. White told KAMR that doctors said her daughter "would be fine" because it "doesn't affect kids."
Tagan continued to weaken and her parents said they called the ambulance after it appeared that she had stopped breathing. She died shortly after.
“This doctor told us that our child would be fine, and our child didn’t even make it twenty-four hours. She died within the next fifteen hours,” Drone, Tagan's father, said.
Amarillo Health Department Director Casie Stoughton said the department is "heartbroken and our thoughts and prayers go out to that particular family and any family who has lost someone here in our community," according to KAMR.
Stoughton declined to comment to NBC News, but a city spokesperson pointed to a statement shared yesterday with KAMR that said the department only reports cases, not deaths, in schools.
The Amarillo Independent School District superintendent did not respond to an NBC News request for comment.
The Amarrillo Globe-News reported Thursday that according to the most recent local health data, the Amarillo district has the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the state among students and staff.
As of Friday afternoon, Texas is soon to become the first state in the country to hit 1 million coronavirus cases, according to the most recent data from NBC News.
Coronavirus deaths in children remain rare, but a record number of children in the U.S. contracted Covid-19 in the past week.
