Memphis high school student dies after contracting COVID-19

Concept of SARS-CoV-2 or 2019-ncov coronavirus - stock photo coronavirus tile virus tile covid19 covid-19 tile / Getty Images
Concept of SARS-CoV-2 or 2019-ncov coronavirus - stock photo coronavirus tile virus tile covid19 covid-19 tile / Getty Images

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) -- School officials in Memphis say a student died earlier this month after contracting COVID-19 as Tennessee continues to rank among the highest case rates in the nation.

A spokesperson for Frayser Community Schools charter network tells The Commercial Appeal that the student died Sept. 11, declining to provide any additional details other than the female student attended Martin Luther King College Prep High School and had been out of school since Aug. 16 because of an unrelated issue.

"Every death from this virus is one met with immense sorrow; but there is especially profound grief when it is the passing of one of our students," school officials wrote in a statement. "Our deepest condolences and thoughts go out to the family, friends, teachers, and all who knew the student."

The student's death come as families and advocacy groups across the state have filed a series of federal lawsuits seeking to overturn Gov. Bill Lee's order that lets parents opt out of school mask requirements. To date, the legal challenges have been met with mixed results.

A federal judge in East Tennessee has declined thus far to halt the directive. Yet a judge in West Tennessee has indefinitely blocked the order in the state's largest county -- Shelby County, which includes Memphis -- after saying the evidence shows that the Republican's directive prevents children with health problems from safely going to school during the coronavirus pandemic.

In Williamson County, an affluent region south of Nashville, a different judge has scheduled a hearing to also consider blocking Lee's order on Oct. 5 -- the same day the executive order is set to expire. The judge ordered the hearing in court Monday, the same day the Williamson County school board agreed to extend its mask mandate for all grades and students until mid-January, though parents are allowed to opt their students out of the requirement.

It's unknown if Lee will extend the order. U.S. District Judge Waverly Crenshaw on Monday said the governor's office "shall file notice of his decision" by Oct. 1 but a lawyer for the attorney general's office -- who is representing the governor -- later wrote the judge that he made an error committing Lee's office to that deadline.

"We could not, and did not intend to, commit on the governor's behalf to filing a notice of intent by October 1, 2021," Acting Assistant Attorney General Reed Smith wrote.

As of Tuesday, Tennessee had about 1,766 new cases per 100,000 people over the past two weeks, according to Johns Hopkins University researchers -- the highest in the country. One in every 190 people in Tennessee tested positive in the past week.

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