CMS first grader dies from COVID-19 complications, district says

CHARLOTTE — A Charlotte-Mecklenburg Schools elementary student has died due to COVID-19 complications, a district representative confirmed to Channel 9 on Thursday.

Mecklenburg County Public Health said the death was reported to the department last week.

A CMS rep confirmed to Channel 9′s education reporter Elsa Gillis that the child attended Stoney Creek Elementary School. A letter sent to parents from Stoney Creek Elementary Principal Susannah Barr confirmed that the student who died was a first grader.

“This is horrific,” said a CMS parent. “I’m sorry to hear about this. I’m saddened by this. It’s horrible.”

On Friday, Elsa spoke with Ethan Govan’s mother. She said her son left a piece of himself with everybody he met.

His mom told Elsa on the phone that he was a happy, loving boy who enjoyed school.

>>CLICK on this GoFundMePage to help Ethan’s family

Ethan loved to be in front of the camera taking pictures and the Bumblebee Transformer, the mother said.

The sobering news comes at a time when the state and county have reported a rise in COVID cases among school-aged children.

“I have a 6-year-old granddaughter, and I have a 4-year-old granddaughter, as well,” a CMS grandparent said. “And I just couldn’t imagine.”

School officials said a crisis response team started the process this week of responding to the emotional needs of all students.

Channel 9 spoke with two doctors at Atrium Health Levine Children’s Hospital, and they said that nationwide numbers reflect what they’re seeing locally.

North Carolina’s latest report says about 27% of new cases are in children younger than 17. That’s nearly double the percentage we’ve seen throughout the pandemic.

“I want to point out that it’s very difficult to predict which children get sick,” said Dr. Amina Ahmed, a pediatric infectious disease expert and epidemiologist at Levine Children’s Hospital. “It’s not the children that have underlying diseases. It’s the kids that are otherwise healthy, and 20% of kids who are hospitalized go into the intensive care unit. So that’s a substantial number.”

Officials have not said if the student who died had any underlying medical conditions.

According to data released by the health department last week, people under the age of 20 made up 1.5% of the 66 COVID-19 deaths in the county from Sept. 9 to Sept. 22.

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