2 Detroit schools staffers, 3 parents dead of virus, superintendent says

Two staffers and three parents in the Detroit Public Schools Community District have died from COVID-19, Superintendent Nikolai Vitti said Monday.

"One of the hardest days yet. All to this awful virus," he wrote in a message on Twitter. "My heart is in pain for their families and our district and school families."

Reached Monday night, Chrystal Wilson, a spokeswoman for the district, told The Detroit News she had no additional comment and could not share more details due to privacy laws.

Vitti tweeted that the district employees and parents were from different schools. 

According to the district website, between March 14 and Monday, more than 20 staffers, three parents, contractors and police department workers had been confirmed as having the coronavirus.

News of the deaths coincided with cases spiking in Michigan.

Michigan now has 6,498 total cases and 184 deaths overall, according to data released Monday afternoon by the state health department. As of Sunday, Michigan had 5,486 confirmed cases and 132 deaths.

The Centers for Disease Control listed 140,904 cases and 2,405 deaths nationwide as of Monday.