Coronavirus News: 3rd-grade teacher in Brooklyn is first NYC teacher to die of COVID-19

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Friday, April 3, 2020
Third grade teacher in Brooklyn dies from COVID-19
The teacher is the first in NYC to die from coronavirus

NEW YORK CITY -- Sandra Santos-Vizcaino, who taught third grade at an elementary school in Brooklyn, is the first New York City school teacher reported to have died of COVID-19.

"This is a devastating tragedy," schools Chancellor Richard Carranza said Thursday. "Sandra was a beloved teacher at P.S. 9."

Santos-Vizcaino, 54, was a more than 20-year veteran of the city's school system. She was recognized for her contributions to education in the Dominican Republic and won a grant to study bird sanctuaries there in 2009.

"The notion that we've lost a teacher is very painful," Mayor Bill de Blasio said. "We lost a principal last week, a young woman full of extraordinary promise."

Brooklyn principal Dez-Ann Romain was the first city education employee reported to have died of the virus.

Students in New York City haven't been to school since March 13.

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